Skandapurana 5.265

The seers said: / The principal sacred fords originating in that sacred field have been heard, / bathed in which a man properly obtains the fruit of all sacred fords.

And which are the principal liṅgas there, O highly fortunate one, / by seeing which welfare is obtained by all? Tell them to us!

Sūta said: / There is indeed a very beautiful liṅga named Maṅkaṇa; / likewise one named Siddheśvara, together with Gautameśvara,

and Kapāleśvara is proclaimed as the fourth. / Each one gives the fruit of all liṅgas without a doubt, / when properly [worshipped] according to the prescribed rule, as has been said, O best of twice-born ones.

There, first I will declare the fruit arising from Maṅkaṇeśvara, / the liṅga endowed with the syllable 'Ma' here, O best of twice-born ones.

The man who, on reaching Śivarātri, O twice-born ones, / keeps vigil through the night, remaining fast-free and pure,

the fruit arising from all liṅgas and produced by their darśana / arises for him, there is no doubt in this—so Hara himself declared.

The seers said: / At what time does that Śivarātri occur, O highly fortunate one? / Declare to us all the rule and its māhātmya in detail!

Sūta said: / The fourteenth lunar day in the dark half of Māgha— / the night of that [day] is proclaimed as being Śivarātri.

On that night, Hara always enters into all liṅgas, / especially among all holy ones; this is famous in Maṅkaṇeśvara.

The seers said: / How did Śivarātri arise, and by whom was it established? / Why has it become productive of great fruit? Tell us all in detail!

Sūta said: / Here I shall tell you an ancient narrative of past events: / the conversation between Bhartṛyajña and King Aśvasena.

Formerly, there was a ruler of Ānarta named Aśvasena. / He was ever devoted to dharma and had mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas.

Out of curiosity, he previously asked Bhartṛyajña this question, / seeing the Kali Age waxing day by day.

Aśvasena said: / 'O good sage, tell me of some observance for the Kali Age / involving little exertion yet yielding great merit and destroying all sins.

Mortals always had short lifespans, O brahmin, formerly in the Kṛta age, / and likewise in the Tretā and Dvāpara; how much more so when the Kali age has arrived!

Therefore, leave aside year-long observances and tell me of one lasting a single day.

One should do today the work of tomorrow, and in the morning the work of the afternoon; / for death does not wait to see whether a man’s work is done or undone.'

Hearing his words, the noble-minded Bhartṛyajña / meditated for a long time, perceived with divine vision, and spoke:

'O king, there is an auspicious observance known as Śivarātri, / lasting a single day, O great king, which destroys all sins.

Whatever gift is offered, whatever is sacrificed, and whatever is recited in prayer there, / all becomes inexhaustible when the night vigil is observed.

The childless obtains sons; the poor acquires wealth; / one of short life attains long life, and also the destruction of enemies.

Whatever desire a mortal keeps in mind while undertaking this observance, / that very desire he will obtain; if free of desire, he will attain liberation.

Even if he keeps vigil with stinginess or with [modest] wealth, / he is nonetheless freed from the sin accumulated over a year; of this there is no doubt.

Because whatever liṅgas there are here, both stationary and movable, / into them Lord Hara enters on that night;

therefore it is called Śivarātri, and for that reason it is dear to Hara. / He was prayed to by all the gods out of a desire to show grace to the worlds:

"O Blessed One, in this Kali Age filled with all manner of sins, / go to the earth for a single day to purify the sins of the year, / so that, purified by your worship, mortals may attain purity.

Only then will what is offered and sacrificed by them reach us. / Whatever is offered by men when defiled turns entirely to waste.

And in the Kali Age, nothing at all reaches us / when offered by impure men, even if abundant, O Śaṃkara."

The Blessed One said: / 'On the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Māgha, O lord of the gods, / I will go to the surface of the earth in the Kali Age—by night, not by day.

And into all liṅgas, movable and stationary, / I shall enter without doubt, for the purification of the sins of the year.

For whatever person performs my worship on that night / with these mantras, O best of the gods, shall be freed from sin:

"Om, reverence to Sadyojāta; / Om, reverence to Vāmadeva; / Om, reverence to Ghora; / Om, reverence to Tatpuruṣa; / Om, reverence to Īśāna." / Having thus worshipped the faces with perfumes, flowers, unguents, / garments, lamps, and food-offerings, he should then present the water offering, / worshipping with this mantra and meditating on me seated in his mind:

"O beloved of Gaurī, lord of the gods, first of all, adorned with the moon! / May my water offering be accepted for the purification of the sins of the year."

Then he should worship a brahmin with food, clothing, and other gifts; / and having given him a priestly fee, he must avoid stinginess with his wealth,

and [pass the night] with stories and discourses on dharma, and with lāsya and tāṇḍava dances.

Whoever performs this observance in this manner, O lord of the gods, / will obtain an expiation for the purification of the sins of the year.'

Hearing that, all the gods bowed down to the moon-crested god / and, greatly delighted, O best of men, returned to their respective abodes.

And they dispatched Nārada, the best of sages, to the earth / to awaken the worlds forever concerning the Śivarātri.

He too went to the surface of the earth and proclaimed everywhere / the māhātmya of Śivarātri, as spoken by the Trident-holder.

From that time forth, Śivarātri came into being on the earth's surface, / bestowing all desires, auspicious, and destroying all sins.

Here I shall relate to you an ancient story of what took place / in Naimiṣāraṇya concerning a certain hunter.

There was a hunter there, hunter by birth alone and not by conduct, / his mind overcome by vice, a stealer of others' wealth.

He never observed a vow, gave no gifts, and performed no prayer; / he only seized the wealth of people by resorting to deceit.

Then at a certain time, Śivarātri arrived / in the dark fortnight of the month of Māgha, destroying all sins.

There was a holy temple there of the god of gods, the Trident-holder; / a night vigil was undertaken there by many people,

and by women adorned with fine ornaments, O tiger among men. / Then that thief, seeing the vigil, thought to himself:

'If I can catch some woman adorned with ornaments / coming out to the exterior of this temple,

then I will kill her, take her ornaments, and depart.'

Having so resolved in his mind, he went near it, / climbed a karṇikāra tree, and stayed there in hiding.

Watching in all directions for the exit of women, / occupied with the deed of theft, and especially afflicted by the cold,

not even a little sleep came to him, nor did any woman come out. / Beneath that tree there was an earthen liṅga; / he plucked leaves and dropped them down upon it.

At that very time, the sharp-rayed sun arose, / bringing displeasure to unchaste women, thieves, and passionate lovers.

Then men and women departed to their respective homes, / tranquil after performing their service, having bowed down to the Great Lord.

The thief too, disappointed, emaciated with hunger and trembling with cold, / climbed down from that tree and resorted to some means [of livelihood].

Then after a long time he met his death. / He was born remembering his former birth in the house of the king of Daśārṇa,

by virtue of the fast, through the vigil kept perforce, / and by the worship of that liṅga on Śivarātri.

Then, having attained the great kingdom of his fathers and grandfathers, / he had a beautiful temple built for that liṅga.

Year after year resorting [there], keeping vigil on Śivarātri, / intent on fasting, amidst the sounds of songs and musical instruments,

and with stories narrating righteousness, and with the sounds of singing, / having worshipped with the previously mentioned mantras, having offered libations according to the injunctions, / and having gratified the brahmins with desired gifts, he would go to his own abode.

Then, after some time had passed, on Śivarātri there arrived / at that temple sages headed by Śāṇḍilya.

Śāṇḍilya, Bharadvāja, Yavakrīta, and Gālava, / Pulastya, Pulaha, Gārgya, and many others, O king.

That King Bṛhatsena too, the son of the lord of Daśārṇa, / arrived to keep vigil before that liṅga.

Having worshipped the god, and having bowed before the foremost of sages, / he sat before him with the permission of those best of the twice-born.

Then, before him, they recounted diverse tales, O king, / especially of royal seers and brahmin seers of the past.

Then, at the end of a certain story, he was asked by those who proclaim the Veda, / their minds filled with curiosity and their eyes wide with wonder:

"O king, filled with curiosity, we all ask you: / tell us the truth, as you stand in the temple of the god.

The king said:
If I know, O foremost of vipras, I shall certainly tell it; / and being questioned before the god, I pledge myself on truth."

"The seers said:
Abandoning copious gifts in various ways, why do you / wait upon [him] from your own land, wishing to keep vigil here?

Year after year, whenever it arrives, you surely know the reason; / if it is not a secret of yours, tell it, O lord of men."

Sūta said:
Smiling with embarrassment, he then said, downcast in mind: / "This is a supreme secret, not to be spoken, O best of the twice-born;

nevertheless, I will tell it, since I am questioned in front of the god."

Then he related his origin in a former body, / and how Śivarātri indeed arose for the thief,

and how in the past, with the disposition of a thief, the worship of the god, / the vigil, without fasting, was performed by him on Śivarātri,

and how the birth arose as it was, endowed with memory of former births. / Then all those sages, [offering] various words of praise

accompanied by blessings to the best of kings, the royal seer, / having kept vigil during the night, departed to their own hermitages.

That king too, having properly worshipped that god and those best of the twice-born, / went to his own city after having kept vigil during the night.

Bhartṛyajña said:
Thus, O king, Śivarātri arose on the surface of the earth; / and such māhātmya of it has been proclaimed to you.

Therefore, with every effort, it must be observed, O best of kings, / especially in the Kali age, by one who desires his own prosperity.

It was performed by Dilīpa, by Nala, and by Nahuṣa, / by Māndhātṛ, Dhundhumāra, Sagara, and Yuyutsu,

and likewise by others especially, endowed with perfect faith; / and their heart's desires were attained, both divine and human.

And likewise by Sāvitrī, by the goddess Śrī, by Sītā, / by Arundhatī, Sarasvatī, Menā, and Rambhā,

by Indrāṇī, Dṛṣadvatī, Svadhā, and Svāhā, / by Rati, Prīti, Prabhāvatī, and Gāyatrī, O best of kings; / they all attained their beloved desires, endowed with great good fortune.

And whoever recites this reward with devotion in the presence of Śiva, / he too is liberated from the sin born of the day; of this there is no doubt.

There is no sacred ford equal to Gaṅgā; there is no god like Hara; / there is no austerity higher than Śivarātri: I have spoken the truth.

Meru is composed of all jewels; austerity is full of all wonders; / Śivarātri is proclaimed to be composed of all righteousness, O king.

Just as Garuḍa is [foremost] among birds, as the ocean is among rivers, / so Śivarātri is the foremost, the highest among all religious duties.

Thus in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the collection of eighty-one thousand [verses], in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvarakṣetra, the two hundred and sixty-sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Śivarātri.'