Skandapurana 5.54

Sūta said: / Likewise, the goddess Carmamuṇḍā is situated in that place, / established of old by the great-souled Nala himself. 1

Whoever worships her with devotion on the day of the Mahānavamī, / obtains his desired wishes and attains the eternal abode. 2

Formerly, the king named Nala was the son of Vīrasena; / he was endowed with all virtues and brought about the destruction of all enemies. 3

His virtuous wife was dearer to him than his own life-breaths, / renowned as Damayantī, the daughter of the ruler of Vidarbha. 4

Then, possessed by Kali, that king played dice / day and night, O brahmins, with Puṣkara, his kinsman. 5

Then he, addicted to that vice, though restrained by virtuous people, / lost his seven-limbed kingdom, leaving aside only that beloved [wife]. 6

Then, taking her with him, he entered the dense forest, / devoid of water, overcome with shame, his senses agitated with sorrow. 7

Then he thought: "If she goes to the palace of Bhīma, / then she will be freed from the misery arising from forest dwelling. 8

Proud as I am, under no circumstances must I go there. / Therefore, abandoning her at night, I shall depart far away, 9

so that, abandoned by me, the virtuous lady may go to that city of Kuṇḍina." / Having made this resolve, leaving her asleep in comfort, / he departed into the terrible forest filled with wild beasts. 10

And at dawn, rising up, as soon as the beautiful woman looked, / she saw her own side empty, where Nala had been resting. 11

Then, weeping piteously in that forest, afflicted with grief, / she took the path and went slowly toward the mansion of her father. 12

Nala too, the king wandering in that forest, / solitary, always resorted to thickets of trees. 13

Then, leaving that forest, he went to another great forest, / endowed with many varieties of trees and teeming with numerous wild beasts. 14

Thus, that protector of the earth, wandering from forest to forest, / thereupon reached the sacred field born of Hāṭakeśvara. 15

In the meantime, that day of the Mahānavamī arrived, / on which kings especially worship the sovereign goddess of the gods. 16

Then the king, having fashioned an earthen [image] bearing Carmamuṇḍā, / afterwards gratified her with fruits and roots due to the absence of wealth. 17

Then, having praised her and standing before her with folded hands, / the lord of Niṣadha himself, filled with supreme faith, [prayed]: 18

"Victory to you, O all-pervading goddess, bearer of Carmamuṇḍā, O excellent one! / Victory to you, expert in annihilating the lineage of Daityas, O daughter of Dakṣa, O auspicious one! 19

O Kālarātri, victory to you, O inconceivable one, beloved of the eighth and ninth lunar days! / O three-eyed one, dear to Tryambaka, victory to you, O goddess worshipped by the gods! 20

O you of terrible form, and of lovely form, of great wisdom, of great might, / of great elevation, of massive body! Victory to you, O goddess of great vows! 21

O eternal form, support of the universe, fond of liquor, flesh, and fat! / O terribly dreadful one, Mahākālī, victory to you, followed by hosts of spirits! 22

O you who delight in a vehicle of corpses, charming one, adorned with serpent ornaments, / with noose in hand, of great hands, having your abode in torrents of blood! 23

O most radiant amid howls and cries, adorned with song and instruments! / Victory to you, beginningless one! Victory, O object of meditation, who take refuge in half of Bharga's body! 24

You are Rati, you are Dhṛti, Tuṣṭi; you are Gaurī, you are the sovereign goddess of the gods; / you are Lakṣmī, you are Sāvitrī, and without doubt you are Gāyatrī. 25

Whatever female form is seen in the three worlds, O goddess, / all that consists of you; herein I have no doubt anywhere. 26

By virtue of that truth, do make your dwelling here quickly; / pleased by my devotion, [grant] your presence, O goddess saluted by gods and demons!" 27

Sūta said: / Thus praised by Nala, the ruler of the earth, / that goddess, affectionate to her devotees, appeared to the king's sight and spoke. 28

The holy Goddess said: / "I am well pleased with you, child, now by this hymn of praise. / Therefore, accept from me the boon situated in your mind." 29

Nala said: / "My wife named Damayantī is dearer to me than my very life-breaths; / she was abandoned by me in the solitary forest filled with ferocious beasts. 30

So act quickly here, O goddess, that through your grace / I may find her again, blameless and of unbroken chastity. 31

And whoever, O goddess, praises you before you with this hymn, / on that very day you should grant him his heart's desire." 32

Sūta said: / Having promised, saying, "So be it," she then vanished from sight. / That tiger among kings also obtained everything she had promised. (33)

Thus ends the fifty-fourth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Carmamuṇḍā installed by Nala,' in the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmya of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa. (54)