Skandapurana 5.278

Sūta said: / This entire Purāṇa was spoken in ancient times by Skanda / to Bhṛgu, the son of Brahmā; from him Aṅgiras then received [it].

And then Cyavana obtained it; from him, the sage Ṛcīka. / In this way it was received by succession throughout all the worlds.

And this Skanda Purāṇa was formerly brought forth by Kumāra; / a man who hears it in the midst of the virtuous is freed from sin.

This Purāṇa bestows long life and brings happiness to the castes; / it was composed here constantly by the high-souled Six-faced One.

Thus was this narrative told in ancient times; may there be auspiciousness to you!

A man who hears the māhātmya of the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara— / no one would be able to make an enumeration of his merit.

He who presents this māhātmya of righteousness to a brahmin / would dwell in heaven for as many [years] as the number of syllables [in it].

Just as the streams of falling rain, or as the stars in the sky, / or as the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā, so their count does not exist.

The man who would hear [it] with devotion even for a few days, / he who recites this narrative, has all his aims accomplished.

One desiring a son obtains sons; one desiring wealth obtains wealth; / a maiden desiring a husband obtains a pleasing husband.

And kinsmen obtain reunion with travelers abroad; / having heard the Skanda Purāṇa, a man obtains what he desires.

For men who listen and recite, it grants all desires; / a king conquers the earth and triumphs over enemies.

Having heard this sacred Purāṇa, one finds a long life; / a brahmin becomes a knower of the Veda, a kṣatriya attains a kingdom,

a vaiśya [attains] wealth and grain, and a śūdra attains happiness; / he who hears even a quarter of a verse goes to the world of Viṣṇu.

Having heard this Purāṇa, he who worships the narrator, / by him Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra have been worshiped.

Whatever single syllable a guru may impart to a disciple, / there is no object on earth by giving which one would become free from debt [to him].

Therefore, the reciter, the instructor of the scripture, should be fully honored / with cows, land, gold, garments, and all kinds of desirable foods.

He who, endowed with devotion, having heard this supreme scripture, / worships the teacher, attains the realm of Śiva.

Just by hearing the Purāṇa, the sin accumulated over many births / comes to cessation, and one obtains the fruit of all sacred fords.

Thus ends the two hundred and seventy-ninth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Hearing the Purāṇa, in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Holy Hāṭakeśvara,' in the sixth [section], the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the great Purāṇa of Skanda consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Thus ends the sixth [section], the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the great Purāṇa of Skanda. 6.