Skandapurana 5.8

Sūta said: / When Triśaṅku, the best of kings, had thus reached heaven / in bodily form through the exertion of Viśvāmitra, O best of brahmins,

that sacred ford attained renown throughout the three worlds; / from then on, it bestowed upon people righteousness, desire, wealth, and liberation.

It was untouched by the flaw of the Kali age, as well as by other secondary sins / and by the slaying of a brahmin and the like, through the power of the enemy of Tripura (Śiva).

Whoever abandons his vital breaths there with a mind endowed with faith, / that mortal attains liberation, even though he might be a perpetrator of grave sins.

Worms, birds, winged insects, beasts, fowl, and deer— / even they, dying there, go to the realm of Śiva without doubt.

Those who perform their ritual ablution there with a mind purified by faith, / even if devoid of righteousness, go to heaven just like Triśaṅku.

Or those oppressed by heat or thirst who plunge into its water, / they too go to the supreme abode where the divine Maheśvara resides.

Viśvāmitra too, seeing that supreme māhātmya of the sacred ford, / abandoned Kurukṣetra and then made his dwelling there.

Likewise, other tranquil sages, having abandoned sacred fords from afar / and made their hermitage there, attained the supreme state.

In the same way, all humans, coming quickly from afar, / bathing there, go to heaven even after committing hundreds of sins.

Thus, through the power of that sacred ford, O best of brahmins, / as people were easily going to the abode of the thirty [gods] (heaven),

all rites such as the Agniṣṭoma went to ruin; / no mortal sacrificed, and no man undertook a vow,

nor did he give gifts, nor did he resort to [other] sacred fords; / he merely performed his ritual ablution at the Liṅgabheda with a concentrated mind,

and then went forth to heaven, mounted upon an excellent aerial chariot.

Then, O brahmins, all the heavenly realms became packed with men / vying with the foremost gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Indra, and the rest.

Then all the hosts of gods, deprived of their shares in the sacrifice / and plunged into extreme distress, held counsel with one another:

“Through the māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvara, the world of heaven is packed full, / crowded on all sides with men with raised arms vying [with us].

Therefore, let that deed be done by which that sacred ford / named Hāṭakeśvara on the face of the earth goes to destruction.”

Thereupon, at the command of Śakra, the dissolutive wind on all sides / filled that sacred field with dust, O best of brahmins.

When that sacred ford was thus destroyed and elevated ground was formed, / all the sacrificial rites were performed once again.

Then, after a great length of time, an anthill formed / in that sacred field, which gradually reached down to Pātāla.

Then the nāgas, out of curiosity, along that path from Pātāla / would come to the world of mortals and wander upon the surface of the earth.

Having enjoyed human pleasures there to their heart's content, / they would depart again by that very path to their own abode.

Therefore, O best of brahmins, that anthill became known all over the earth / as the 'nāga-hole' due to the coming and going of the nāgas.

Then, at a certain time, the blessed Indra (Pākaśāsana), / seized by the sin of killing a brahmin, lost his luster.

Then, having received an instruction from the Grandfather [Brahmā], he entered / by that path and beheld Hāṭakeśvara in Pātāla.

Then, from the darśana of him, he was instantly freed from sin, / and endowed once more with splendor, he returned to heaven.

Having witnessed the power of that liṅga of the trident-bearing god / named Hāṭakeśvara, he conceived a fear arising from human beings:

"If some man here, like King Triśaṅku, / freed of sin, should worship that liṅga with faith,

he will surely displace me from this abode of the gods. / Therefore, I shall fill up this path leading to Pātāla."

Then, filled with haste, Indra (Śatakratu) himself / hurled the excellent mountain Raktaśṛṅga into that hole.

The seers said: / How did the sin of killing a brahmin befall the great-souled Indra? / And at what time? O Sūta, relate it all to us in detail!

What is this Raktaśṛṅga mountain that was thrown down there by him? / And which Indra (Śacīpati) felt fear toward mortals?

Sūta said: / Formerly, O best of brahmins, the daughter of Hiraṇyakaśipu, / named Ramā, endowed with supreme beauty and virtues, was married by Tvaṣṭṛ.

Then a very long time passed for her without a son. / Then, filled with dispassion, she engaged in austerity to obtain a son,

meditating upon Maheśvara, the lord of gods, the god of gods, / with offerings of worship and tributes, endowed with complete faith,

restrained, limited in diet, devoted to ritual ablution and japa, / and bestowing gifts of various kinds upon the best of brahmins.

Then, at the end of a thousand years, Maheśvara was pleased with her / and said, "I am the granter of boons; choose what you desire."

She chose: "O Blessed One, by your grace let me have a son / who is heroic, invulnerable to weapons, and bears the form of a brahmin and a dānava,

accomplished in Vedic study, dedicated to sacrificial rites, / renowned for splendor and fame among all embodied beings."

The Blessed One said: / Without doubt your son will be mighty and wise, / invulnerable to all weapons, endowed with great splendor,

a sacrificer, a master of generosity, a hero, a master of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas; / he will perform in full all rites ordained for brahmins, / and he will be invincible in battle even by all the gods and asuras.

Having spoken thus, the lord of gods vanished from there. / And in due season, she conceived an embryo from Viśvakarman.

Then, in the tenth month, she gave birth to a radiant son, / resembling twelve suns and endowed with all auspicious marks.

When the twelfth day arrived, after worshipping the best of brahmins, / his father gave him the famous name Vṛtra.

Then that boy grew like the moon in the bright fortnight, / bringing joy to his father and mother, pampered by the circle of his kinsmen.

Then, in due time, Śukra himself, coming as a brahmin / to the dānava, imparted to him the vow proper for brahmins.

And observing the vow of a brahmacārin, Vṛtra, devoted to his preceptor, / studied the four Vedas together with the Vedāṅgas.

Then, having attained youth, he conquered all the kings, / brought the earth under his control, and after that, Pātāla.

Then, desiring to conquer Indra, he reached the abode of the gods / and put to flight in battle the gods headed by the thousand-eyed Indra.

Then the wielder of the vajra fought eighteen battles with him, / yet he did not obtain victory even in one, O best of brahmins.

Along with the surviving gods whose bodies were all slashed and wounded, / he then fled terrified from the realm of heaven to Brahmā's world.

Vṛtra, too, enjoyed the entire three worlds with all that moves and does not move; / having established himself in Indra's position, his every obstacle was eliminated.

The mighty one made the dānavas, proud of their strength, / the enjoyers of sacrificial shares in all the prescribed places of the gods.

Even when sovereignty over the three worlds was thus attained, O best of brahmins, / he felt no contentment, because of his longing for the world of Brahmā.

Then, having summoned Śukra, he bowed with humility / and spoke sweet words along with his four ministers.

Vṛtra said: / Out of fear, Indra has gone to the world of Brahmā, O upholder of the lineage of preceptors; / tell me truthfully how there may be access for me thither,

so that I may destroy Indra, Brahmā (Virañci), and all the rest; / and having given the world of Brahmā to you, I shall myself enjoy heaven.

Śukra said: / There is no access there for you, O best of dānavas; / therefore, you should be content with the sovereignty over the three worlds.

Vṛtra said: / As long as Indra remains, there is no happiness for me. / Therefore, O best of brahmins, I will strive to make my path free of thorns.

How did Indra obtain access there, O descendant of Bhṛgu? / Tell me, O noble-minded one, why that [access] will not be mine today?

Śukra said:
"Formerly, tapas was performed by him in Naimiṣa, O best of Dānavas, / meditating on Śaṃkara until the end of a thousand years. 62

Indeed, by that power his attainment there came about always, / along with his servants and retinue; there is no other cause here. 63

Whoever else also performs such tapas in Naimiṣāraṇya, / his attainment occurs in the world of Brahmā; there is no doubt of this." 64

Sūta said:
Having heard that, he went swiftly to Naimiṣa, the excellent sacred ford; / he then performed severe tapas, meditating on Maheśvara, 65

having appointed the best of Danus for the protection of the three worlds, / who were endowed with great strength, surpassing Śakra in prowess. 66

Standing under the open sky in the rains, taking refuge in water in the winter, / practicing the five fires in summer, he became one who feeds on air. 67

Thus, as he remained firm in his vow, hundreds of years passed. / Thereupon the gods, led by Brahmā and Viṣṇu, were terrified. 68

And they held counsel constantly, solely for his destruction; / and distressed, they searched for weaknesses, but saw none. 69

Then Viṣṇu himself spoke, having reflected in his mind for a long time, / having discerned the means of slaying Vṛtra, filled with joy: 70

Viṣṇu said:
"The means of slaying him has now indeed been known by me, O Śakra; / having heard it, act quickly; there is no other means. 71

He has been made invulnerable to all weapons by the holder of the trident; / therefore, prepare a thunderbolt made of bone for his slaying." 72

Indra said:
"From the bones of which living being will the thunderbolt be made, O Lord? / Of an elephant, or of a śarabha, or of another? Tell me!" 73

Viṣṇu said:
"It must be a hundred cubits in length, six-cornered, O lord of the gods, / slender in the middle, but thick on both sides, with a fearsome form." 74

Indra said:
"No such living creature is seen even in the three worlds, O lord of the gods, / with whose bones a thunderbolt of such a form could be made." 75

Viṣṇu said:
"There is a brahmin named Dadhīci, established in supreme tapas, / and twice as tall, who has made his hermitage at the Sarasvatī. 76

Go to him and quickly beg; he will give his own bones. / For there is nothing that cannot be given by him when he is entreated." 77

Then Śakra, along with the gods, having gone to his hermitage / on the bank of the eastern Sarasvatī at Puṣkara, O best of brahmins— 79

Then, seeing the gods arrived at his own dwelling, / Dadhīci, delighted in mind, swiftly went forward [to meet them]. 79

Having bowed to the thousand-eyed one as well as to the other [gods], that good sage / then performed worship of them with guest-water and the rest, and after that, 80

standing bent low in humility, his soul gladdened, / himself bowing again and again to the thousand-eyed one, he said: 81

Dadhīci said:
"For what purpose have the gods come? Let the task be declared quickly. / Blessed am I in whose home you have arrived, O slayer of Bala!" 82

Śakra said:
"We have all been conquered by Vṛtra, O best of brahmins. / Strengthened by a boon, he cannot be slain by any weapons. 83

Hari said that he may be killed by a thunderbolt produced from bone, / and there is no living being of the measure of a hundred cubits 84

except you, O best of brahmins; therefore, give us your own / bones, by which a thunderbolt destructive to him may come to be. 85

Perform this duty, O best of brahmins, destroying the distress of the gods; / otherwise, all the gods will completely perish." 86

Sūta said:
Having heard that, the venerable sage Dadhīci, gladdened in mind, / abandoned his life for the sake of the welfare of those dwellers in heaven. 87

Then those gods, delighted, took all the bones; / then they fashioned a great thunderbolt such as had been described by Viṣṇu. 88

Then Śakra, taking that, went facing toward Naimiṣa, / filled with great fear, trembling at the arrival of night. 89

There, standing far off, the lord of the thirty [gods] struck with the thunderbolt / Vṛtra as he was situated in meditation, intent on fleeing. 90

He too, by the strike of the thunderbolt, was reduced to ashes— / Vṛtra, the tiger among Dānavas, like a moth reaching fire. 91

Śakra too, thoroughly terrified with fear, went to a mountain / situated in the midst of the ocean, very difficult to climb, and took refuge on its high peak. 92

He did not know that Vṛtra had been slain by that stroke of the thunderbolt; / he only watched the path where Vṛtra's arrival might occur. 93

Meanwhile, the gods, the hair of their bodies bristling with delight, / having seen Vṛtra slain, praised the lord of the thirty [gods]. 94

Not knowing that he had disappeared out of fear to that ocean mountain, / searching for a long time and reaching him with difficulty, they then 95

saw him seated in a rugged mountain cave, / bereft of splendor, wretched, and engulfed by the murder of a brahmin, 96

filling the ten directions with the stench emanating from his limbs. 97

Then the four-faced one, seeing Śakra in such a condition, / standing at a distance out of fear of sin, said to the entire assembly of gods: 98

"This Śakra, O best of gods, is engulfed by the murder of a brahmin; / therefore, he must be abandoned from afar, lest you incur sin. 99

Look! All the marks associated with the murder of a brahmin / are seen upon his limbs; therefore, let us go to heaven." 100

Seeing the gods arrived with the grandfather at their head, / and filled with wonder at their having suddenly turned away, / the lord of the gods, bewildered, then said: "Why are you going away, O gods, / having seen me without even speaking? Is all well in my house? 102

Was that Dānava slain by that thunderbolt of mine? / Is that evil-minded one not searching for me for the sake of battle?" 103

Brahmā said:
That Dānava was slain by you, O Śakra, with that thunderbolt;
the sinful one has gone under the power of death; you should not be afraid. 104

However, from his slaying, the highly reprehensible murder of a brahmin has arisen
for you, O Śakra; therefore today we do not touch [you, who have] become untouchable. 105

Indra said:
Many Dānavas indeed were slain by me previously;
the murder of a brahmin did not arise; how is there murder for me now? 106

Brahmā said:
They were slain by you in battle according to the duty of a kṣatriya, O Vāsava;
all those Dānavas were pure; therefore no sin arose. 107

This one was endowed with a sacred thread, especially engaged in austerity;
he was slain by trickery, O Śakra; therefore you are joined with sin. 108

Indra said:
I know, O four-faced one, that my own body is joined with sin
by the signs arising from the slaying of a brahmin; therefore, declare purification to me, 109

By which the sin arising from the murder of a brahmin quickly departs,
[and] I may become touchable to all the gods, O great-grandfather.
Brahmā said:
For that purpose, O best of the gods, you ought to undertake a pilgrimage to sacred fords;
without it, your sin will not go to destruction entirely. 111

Sūta said:
Then, by his word, Śakra, devoted to pilgrimage to sacred fords,
wandered over the entire earth, performing ritual ablutions separately [at each], 112

At well-known sacred fords endowed with rivers and streams,
at Vārāṇasī, at Prayāga, at Prabhāsa, and in Kurujāṅgala; 113

And likewise at others, the thousand-eyed one did not become free from sin.
Then, fallen into despondency, he reflected in his mind: 114

“I have bathed in all the sacred fords on the surface of the earth,
and yet I am not freed from the sin. What shall I do now? 115

Shall I fall from the peak of a mountain, or shall I consume poison?
Deprived of the sovereignty over the three worlds, I have no heart to live.” 116

Having thus fallen into despondency, Vāsava climbed a mountain,
and as he was resolved upon death and about to throw himself down, 117

Just then a divine voice arose from the sky, O best of brahmins:
“O Śakra, do not commit a rash deed, having attained despondency in your heart! 118

You have yet to rule in heaven for eight yugas.
Therefore, listen attentively for the purification of your sin, O Śakra! 119

Swiftly carry out the instruction; it should not be conceived otherwise:
The opening which was formerly filled up with dust by you 120

In the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, where the god Hara himself resides,
there a serpent-hole has arisen from an anthill, O lord of the gods, 121

By which the serpents come out and go on the surface of the earth.
Having gone by that path to Hāṭakeśvara in Pātāla,
having bathed in the Pātālagaṅgā, worship Maheśvara! 122

Then you will become freed from sin, there is no doubt;
and you will obtain once again the unimpeded sovereignty of the gods.” 123

Sūta said:
Then Śakra, hearing that voice arising from the sky,
went swiftly to where that serpent-hole was. 124

Then, having entered Pātāla and immersed himself in the waters of the Gaṅgā,
he worshipped that liṅga known as Hāṭakeśvara. 125

Then in an instant his body became free of impurity,
and the foul odor vanished, and an increase of splendor took place. 126

At that moment, the gods led by Brahmā and Viṣṇu arrived
and, greatly delighted, spoke to that king of the gods who was freed from sin: 127

“You have attained purity, O Śakra, freed from the murder of a brahmin;
therefore come, let us go together to the abode of the gods! 128

O Śakra, fill this serpent-hole again with dust;
otherwise, human beings seeking perfections, having come through this [hole], 129

Having bathed in the waters of the Bhāgīrathī and worshipped this liṅga,
even though joined with sin, will attain the supreme state.” 130

Then all those gods and Śatakratu,
having bowed down to the god, departed aloud once again to the abode of the gods. 131

Then a great festival celebrating the slaying of Vṛtra took place there in heaven,
when Śakra obtained the lordship of the gods again, O best of brahmins. 132

Sūta said:
All this māhātmya relating to Hāṭakeśvara,
which destroys all sins, has been told to you, O best of brahmins. 133

And whoever proclaims this with devotion or listens attentively,
he goes to the supreme abode, free of old age and death. 134

Thus ends the eighth chapter, named “The Description of the Slaying of Vṛtra,” in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. 8.