Skandapurana 5.79

Sūta said: / On the very southern side of it is a renowned liṅga / installed by the Vālakhilyas, which destroys all sins,

by worshiping which previously, when filled with wrath toward Śakra, / they generated the bird Garuḍa, known here as Viṣṇu's vehicle.

The seers said: / How did that anger toward Śakra arise in them, / O son of Sūta, and how was Garuḍa born?

Sūta said: / Long ago, in that very beautiful sacred field, Prajāpati Dakṣa / performed a sacrifice according to the rules, with full and excellent fees.

Then the gods headed by Śakra were invited for assistance / by Dakṣa, as well as sages and spotless royal seers,

likewise brahmins knowledgeable in the Veda and skilled in sacrificial rites, / householders, and forest dwellers.

Then those sages called Vālakhilyas of rigorous vows, / carrying a single sacrificial stick to assist Prajāpati, / set out for that sacrificial enclosure, afflicted by the burden and beset with hardship.

Then, on the path of them all, a cow's footprint came into view, / filled with water that had come from an unseasonal cloud.

Then, wishing to cross it and struggling to and fro, / exhausted by the burden of sacrificial wood, they were seen by the king of the gods,

who was going along that road to the sacrifice of Dakṣa Prajāpati. / Then, looking for a long time and smiling out of amusement, / puffed up with the pride of sovereign power, he leaped across and went on.

Then, filled with rage at seeing that insult from Śakra, / turning back and going to their own hermitage, they made a resolute plan:

“Since this sinner, having attained the rank of Śakra, / has insulted us all, therefore he must be cast down from that noble rank.

Another Śakra must be produced through the power of mantras, / with great Atharvan hymns born of magical sorcery,

by whom this Śakra, proud with arrogance, / devoid of the māhātmya of sacrifice, and of little intellect and valor, will be destroyed.”

Then, having become purified, making effort day and night, / they made oblations into the fire with the Skandasūkta and according to the Kṣurikā.

with the Garbha Upaniṣad, with the Nīlarudra hymns, O best of brahmins, / with the Rudraśīrṣa recited for desires, and combined with the Viṣṇusūkta.

Having placed a water pot in the center of the diagram, filled with water, / at the end of the fire offering they touched him with its auspicious waters.

Meanwhile, Śakra beheld terrifying / portents arising on all sides, foreboding his destruction:

his left arm and eye twitched repeatedly, / and he could not see the tip of his nose, the tip of his tongue, or his chin;

nor could he see his shadow without a head, nor the two suns in the sky, / nor Arundhatī, nor the pole star, nor the footprints of Viṣṇu;

nor Saturn, nor the celestial river situated in the sky did Hari see. / While sleeping, he continually saw a dark-bodied woman holding a weapon,

her hair disheveled, naked, with black teeth, and terrifying. / Seeing those great portents, the king of the gods asked Bṛhaspati,

terrified with fear: "O Guru, what is this? / Immense portents and various evil omens are arising.

What will happen to me now, O wise one? Speak! Will there be ruin? / Will it be of the sovereignty of the three worlds, or of wealth and the rest?"

Bṛhaspati said: / "Those great seers, the Vālakhilyas, who were intoxicated by pride / bypassed by you as they stood in the path wishing to cross a cow's footprint,

by those very [sages], using Atharvan mantras, against you, O lord of Śacī, / a complete fire offering has been performed, and a water pot has been consecrated with mantras.

For your total destruction, an overlord of all the gods, / another Indra, will arise through the Atharvan mantras—there is no doubt."

Having heard those words of his, the thousand-eyed one was filled with fear. / Approaching Dakṣa with a wretched face, he spoke immediately thereafter:

"For our destruction, O Prajāpati, by the Vālakhilya sages / a concerted effort has been undertaken to create another Śakra.

Go yourself and prevent them before another / Śakra is born to destroy us; nothing is impossible for them!"

Then Dakṣa went swiftly, accompanied by the immortals led by Śakra. / Smiling, he spoke these words to them with humility:

"What is this immensely terrible rite being performed, O brahmins, / by which all these three worlds have been thrown into agitation?"

Then, seeing Dakṣa arrived at their hermitage, / they quickly went to meet him, taking guest water in their hands.

Having offered the guest water according to rule, and having performed worship with devotion, / bowing down, they said: "Welcome to you, O Prajāpati!

Let your command be given quickly, for which purpose you have come here. / Even at the cost of our lives, we will do what is pleasing to you."

Dakṣa said: / "This most terrible rite, which brings fear to all the gods, / must be abandoned by you without agitation; for this purpose I have come here."

The sages said: / "We had come with great devotion to your sacrifice, / but were transgressed by Śakra out of excess of pride, mocking us repeatedly.

And for the destruction of Śakra, by means of the potency of mantras, another Śakra / has been commenced by us through extremely fierce [rites], and the conclusion of the fire offering is now reached.

Then how can that power of mantras be rendered futile? / Especially since it is spoken in the Veda; therefore, tell us here, O lord!

If you yourself are able to make it otherwise, / do so yourself, O master; such power is not ours."

Dakṣa said: / "This which you have spoken is true, O greatly fortunate ones; / the power born of Vedic mantras cannot be made otherwise.

Therefore, this fire offering which was performed by you with Vedic mantras / for the sake of [producing] a king of the gods, and the jar consecrated by you unperturbed—

by my word, he shall become the king of birds, / endowed with fire and vigor, even more powerful than Śakra!

This king of the gods should be forgiven on my word / for that action which was done by him through foolishness."

Having spoken thus to them, Dakṣa showed / the thousand-eyed one, who was afflicted with fear, standing bowed down with humility.

Seeing the thousand-eyed one trembling with folded hands, / they said: "O Śakra, do not commit transgression against brahmins again,

if you desire sovereignty over the gods of heaven once more! / Even if a brahmin is slow, foolish, or devoid of ritual acts, / he should never be disrespected anywhere by wise persons desiring both worlds."

Indra said: / "Whether out of ignorance or out of knowledge, whatever misdeed was done by me, / all that should be forgiven by the brahmins, especially on the word of Dakṣa.

Accept a boon from me, whatever dwells always in your heart; / I will grant it, there is no doubt; there is nothing I cannot give."

The sages said: / "A man who, endowed with faith, performs a fire offering in this fire pit / after worshiping this liṅga—may his heart's desire be fulfilled!"

Indra said: / "Whoever performs a fire offering here in this pit after worshiping this liṅga / shall quickly attain his desired wish fulfilled.

Or if, without desire, he worships this auspicious liṅga, / he shall attain the supreme perfection, difficult even for the gods to attain."

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus to the Vālakhilyas, the best of sages, the thousand-eyed one / mounted Airāvata and then went to Dakṣa's sacrifice.

Dakṣa also performed the sacrifice according to rule, O best of brahmins, / with those delighted Vālakhilyas seated near him.

Thus ends the seventy-ninth chapter, called 'The Narrative of the Greatness of the Vālakhilya Hermitage' in the section on the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.