Skandapurana 5.76

Sūta said: / Likewise, there is another auspicious triad of suns there, / by whose pleasure a human being can attain liberation across the three worlds:

Muṇḍīra is the first there, Kālapriya is the second, / and Mūlasthāna is the third, destroying all diseases.

The sun transfers to Muṇḍīra at the end of the night, / to Kālapriya at midday, and to Mūlasthāna at the arrival of night.

If a man with devotion looks upon even one [of them] at that time, / that fortunate man truly attains liberation, without a doubt.

The seers said: / Muṇḍīra is heard to be in the eastern direction of the earth, / the god Kālapriya in the middle, and Mūlasthāna between them.

How then did those three suns arise there / in the sacred field born of Hāṭakeśvara? Tell us everything in detail, O Sūta.

Sūta said: / On the edge of the ocean there is an excellent city called Viṭaṅkapura, / adorned with very lofty ramparts touched by the waves of the sea.

There was a certain brahmin there afflicted with the disease of leprosy / due to the ripening of past deeds, just as youth arrived.

His wife was a chaste woman of noble family, adorned with good character; / though he was in such a state, she generally viewed him as if he were the god of love.

She obtained various costly medicines / for his sake, as well as unguents and various wholesome foods.

Likewise, she continually brought the best physicians with great respect / for his sake, yet no bodily improvement occurred for him.

The more remedies he took, O best of twice-born, / the more all his limbs became overrun with leprosy.

Now, while that excellent brahmin was living in this manner, / a certain weary traveler came as a guest to his house.

Seeing the brahmin arrived at the house, his virtuous and beloved wife / pleased him with excellent hospitalities out of genuine devotion, even though he was a stranger.

Then, after that best of twice-born had bathed, sipped water, eaten his meal, / and rested on a couch, the brahmin master of the house spoke to him—

endowed with splendor like the sun, possessed of beauty, generosity, and virtues, / dwelling in his youth, like a second god of love incarnate.

The leper said: / Whence do you come, O brahmin? Where will you go? Tell me now. / Though endowed with such loveliness, why are you alone, as if suffering distress?

The traveler said: / There is a city named Kāntīpurī, like the city of Indra, / constantly inhabited by well-settled people endowed with religious observances.

Making my residence there and maintaining the householder's stage of life, / I was seized by terrible leprosy, just as you are, O best of twice-born.

Then I heard of the triad of suns on the earth, which destroys all diseases, / as recorded in the Purāṇa known as Skānda.

Thereupon, having become dejected and afflicted for a long time by medicines— / by alkaline, sour, astringent, pungent, and bitter ones—

and making a firm resolve in my mind, I took great wealth, / went to Lord Muṇḍīra, and remained right in his presence.

Then, rising in the morning, I continually looked upon that lord; / I worshipped him to the best of my ability and then bowed down to him.

Especially on Sunday, without food and with restrained senses, / I kept vigil at night with the sounds of songs and musical instruments.

Then, at the end of a year, having bowed down to that lord of the day, / and endowed with supreme faith, [I went] after that to Kālapriya...

By that very rite, O brahmin, with a mind purified by faith, / I performed worship of that Lord of the Day too at midday.

Then at the end of the year, having bowed down to him according to my capacity, / I went to the deity Mūlasthāna situated in the western quarter.

By that very rite worship was performed by me of him as well / at the twilight hour, O best of the twice-born, remaining there for a year.

Then at the end of the year, the Sun approached me in a dream / and spoke with an exceedingly delighted mind, smiling, O brahmin:

‘I am well-pleased with you, O brahmin, through this rite performed with devotion, / born of worship offered to me; therefore let your leprosy depart!

Go quickly to your own home, O best of the twice-born; you are fatigued; / behold all your kinsfolk waiting with longing for your sake.

Formerly, gold belonging to a noble-souled brahmin was stolen by you; / by the ripening of that deed, the disease of leprosy befell you.

It has now been destroyed by me for you, well-pleased, O twice-born; / knowing this, the theft of gold should never again be committed.

Those men who are seen in the world afflicted with the disease of leprosy— / the theft of gold was committed by all those evil-doers.

Therefore, gold should be given according to one’s capacity, not stolen by the wise / who desire supreme, enduring happiness for their own bodies.’

Having spoken thus, the Thousand-Rayed One then vanished from sight, / and I, overcome with wonder, quickly arose from my bed.

When I looked at my own body, it was freed from the disease of leprosy, / divine, shining like twelve suns, just as you behold, O twice-born.

Therefore, you too, O chief of brahmins, behold with devotion that triad of Suns / by this procedure, by which leprosy is cured.

What use are medicines, what use diets even when prepared with bitter herbs, / when this triad of Suns, capable of destroying all diseases, is present?

May it be well with you! I shall depart now toward that city; / I have rested today in your house, O brahmin, as in my own house.’

Spoken to thus by that traveler, the brahmin afflicted with leprosy / then looked upon the face of his own wife, filled with sorrow.

She said: ‘What was spoken to you by this traveler is right, O beloved; / therefore go quickly there where that triad of Suns is.

I, devoted to serving you as a faithful wife, / will go there along with you, without a doubt; therefore go quickly, O lord.’

Spoken to thus by her, he then took abundant wealth / and set out along with his beloved toward Muṇḍīrasvāmin:

‘With a solemn vow I shall go to behold that triad of deities— / Muṇḍīra, Kālanātha, and the Sun at Mūlasthāna.’

Then with great difficulty, afflicted with the disease of leprosy, / he arrived at the sacred field born of Hāṭakeśvara, O best of the twice-born.

Beholding that very great sacred field frequented by hosts of ascetics, / despondent from the disease of leprosy and fatigued on the road, he said to his beloved:

‘I have fallen into despair on account of disease and hunger; / I am not able to crawl as far as Muṇḍīrasvāmin.

Therefore I will abandon my own body right here, without doubt; / you, O beloved, go to your own home, having found a good caravan.’

The wife said: / ‘When you had not eaten, O beloved, I certainly never ate; / even in solitary privacy, O highly fortunate one, I did not sleep while you were awake.

Therefore, having reached this great sacred field, abandoning you / who are prepared for the next world, how can I go home?

Bereft of you, how shall I show my face to them— / to relatives, elders, and even to other friends?

Therefore, along with you, O lord, I will enter the fire; / bound by the cords of affection, I touch myself with truth.

As many fasts as have occurred for you, O wise one, / so many have occurred for us; how can I go to that home?’

Knowing her resolve thus, the brahmin then / constructed a funeral pyre for burning and entered it together with her.

Meditating in his mind upon the Sun, as he took up the fire, / he beheld three blazing men standing before him.

Beholding them, filled with wonder, [he thought]: ‘Who are these three men? / Never have I seen anyone endowed with such splendor!’

The men said: / ‘Do not go upon the path of death, perturbed, having embraced renunciation! / Turn back and go to your own home accompanied by your wife, O twice-born!’

The brahmin said: / ‘Because having made a vow earlier, my own home was abandoned by me, / that after seeing Muṇḍīrasvāmin, and likewise the other, Kālavallabha,

and Mūlasthāna, the consumption of grain was to be done; / so without seeing them, how can I go to my dwelling / and eat grain? Therefore I shall give up my life.’

The men said: / ‘We are those three Suns, O brahmin, arrived right here, / our minds drawn by your devotion; speak, what shall we do?’

The brahmin said: / ‘If you three Suns have indeed come into my presence of your own accord, / then let this leprosy go to destruction!

Likewise, you should remain forever in this sacred field itself, / and your presence should be accessible in the three worlds just as before.’

The Suns said: / ‘We shall do so, O brahmin; we will remain here forever, / and you, freed from disease, will attain unsurpassed happiness.

Therefore, assign a triad of temples for our sake, / so that, arriving at the three times of day, we enter into presence, O twice-born.’

Having spoken thus, they all vanished from sight then, / and he too beheld his body freed from disease.

shining like twelve suns and marked with all auspicious marks. / Then he spoke to his wife, who stood bowed in humility: 67

"Look, fair-browed one, at how my body has become whole once again / through the grace of the god of gods, the sun-god, the garlanded with rays! 68

Remaining here, I shall constantly worship the sun; / I shall not return home. This truth is spoken by me." 69

Having spoken thus, that best of brahmins, filled with devotion, / built three delightful temples in that most lovely sacred field: 70

one for Muṇḍīrasvāmin, another for Kālapriya, / and another for Mūlasthāna, adorned with noble banners. 71

And in them he installed proper images of those three suns, / as prescribed by the scriptures, on a Sunday when the sun was in Hasta. 72

Then, having long worshipped them at the three junctures of the day / with flowers, incense, and the like, the brahmin gradually attained the sun-god's abode at the end of his body. 73

Sūta said: / Thus arose those three suns there, O best of brahmins, / destroying all diseases for their devoted worshippers. 74

Whoever beholds them at their proper time, as prescribed on a Sunday, / attains his desired wishes, even those difficult for humans to attain. 75

Thus ends the seventy-sixth chapter, named 'The Description of the Consecration of Muṇḍīra, Kālapriya, and Mūlasthāna', in the Praise of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. 76