Skanda Purana 5.254

Gālava said: / In this way, having incurred the curse and afflicted by Pārvatī's curse, / they became childless, and likewise every man [among them].

The śālagrāma stone arises in the Gaṇḍakī river, and Maheśvara arises in the Narmadā, / self-manifest; both of these are entirely unartificial.

Hari, present in the śālagrāma stone in twenty-four varieties, / should be examined by men daily, whereas Sadāśiva has a single form.

Where there is a śālagrāma stone in the pure waters of the Gaṇḍakī river, / bathing and drinking there, one attains the state of Brahman.

Worshipping that stone born from the Gaṇḍakī river according to rule, / one becomes a master of yoga of purified self; of this there is no doubt.

All this has been told to you, regarding what I was asked here by you. / Now hear how Hara incurred a curse from the brahmins.

A man who hears with devotion this narrative being recited, / concerning the dance of the Lord of the Mountains and describing half of Umā's body,

accompanied by praise from Brahmā, shall attain the highest goal. / Reading half a verse, a quarter of a verse, or an entire verse,

whoever recites it without conflict, free from deceit and pride, / goes to the supreme abode, having reached which he grieves no more.

Especially during the Cāturmāsya, reciting or hearing it, the best among men / obtains desired accomplishment, surrounded by wealth, sons, and the like.

Just as the gods beginning with Brahmā, through the application of singing and instrumental music, / attained supreme accomplishment in the presence of Durgā and Śiva.

And when the rainy season arrives, through the discipline of devotion to Janārdana, / to Maheśvara, and to Durgā, one shall not suckle a breast again.

One should always perform worship of Gaṇeśa, especially in the Cāturmāsya, / for the sake of benefit, for that effort indeed bestows benefit.

Sūrya bestows freedom from disease on those by whom he is worshipped with devotion; / when the Cāturmāsya has arrived, he bestows special fruit upon men.

This pañcāyatana is indeed served by householders; / served especially during the Cāturmāsya, it grants what is desired.

He who always worships Viṣṇu situated in the śālagrāma stone, / accompanied by the discus stone of Dvāravatī, receives liberation.

Especially in the Cāturmāsya, it grants liberation even by its sight; / when he is praised, all is praised; when he is worshipped, the whole world is worshipped.

Worshipped, recited, meditated upon, remembered, he indeed removes defilement; / what more [can be said] of the śālagrāma stone, since Hari is present in the śālagrāma?

Moreover, offering to Hari food, fruit, and held water, / especially during the Cāturmāsya to that which is situated in the śālagrāma, is auspicious.

Sesame seeds offered to the śālagrāma stone, O Śūdraja, / purify a man endowed with devotion, especially during the Cāturmāsya.

He, always accompanied by Lakṣmī and endowed with wealth and grain, / is born in the home of the very fortunate; of this there is no doubt.

That Viṣṇu should be known as accompanied by Lakṣmī; of this there is no doubt; / one should worship him with great devotion, and stable fortune will remain in his house.

Poverty persists in the world so long, wickedness roars so long, / and afflictions remain in this body so long, as one does not worship Hari.

Where he alone is worshipped, he makes pure the entire sacred field / for five krośas; there no occurrence of inauspiciousness can exist for you.

This alone is great fortune, this alone is great austerity, / this alone is supreme liberation: where the worship of the Lord of Lakṣmī takes place.

The conch coiling clockwise, identical with Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa, / tulasī, and the black antelope [skin] are where the Dvāravatī stone is; / there reside Śrī, victory, Viṣṇu, and liberation—these four.

For a mortal who performs worship unto Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa, / it bestows incomparable merit, and he is liberated at that very moment.

Especially during the Cāturmāsya, Hari accompanied by Lakṣmī is to be worshipped.

When one meditates upon that god, [the meditation] destroys impurities; / worshipped with tulasī blossoms, he destroys [future] births.

Worshipped with a bilva leaf during the Cāturmāsya, he is the foremost remover of sin.

With every effort, he alone should be served who, having pervaded the universe, is the sovereign of the worlds; / in due time he creates and consumes with effortless play; having reached him, a devotee never sinks down.

Thus ends the two hundred fifty-fifth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa', in the Cāturmāsya-māhātmya within the narrative of Śeṣaśāyin, in the conversation between Brahmā and Nārada, in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.