Skandapurana 5.88

The sages said: / Regarding the four goddesses mentioned by you, O son of Sūta— / Camatkārī, Mahitthā, and the other, Mahālakṣmī,

and the fourth, Ambāvṛddhā—three of them have been praised / in detail, but the fourth, Ambāvṛddhā, has not been described.

Tell us all about her power, O son of Sūta; / by whom this pilgrimage festival was instituted, tell all in detail.

Sūta said: / This Goddess Ambāvṛddhā is a power made of austerity. / Hear from me all about how she previously took up residence here.

When this city was founded by King Camatkāra, / these four deities were established by that purified soul for its protection, / with the assent of the twice-born.

Now, that king had a daughter named Ambā, / and another named Vṛddhā, endowed with beauty, generosity, and virtues.

Both of them were married by the King of Kāśi, O best of brahmins, / according to the ritual prescribed in the domestic manuals, in the presence of the gods, brahmins, and fire.

Then, after some time, a great battle took place / between the King of Kāśi and the Kālayavanas.

Then the powerful King of Kāśi, along with his attendants, army, and mounts, / was slain in battle by those ferocious [warriors] who had received boons from Hara.

Then Ambā and Vṛddhā, having incurred sorrowful widowhood, / went to the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, which grants whatever is desired.

Thereafter, they made effort in the worship of the Goddess; / to destroy their husband's enemies, they undertook an auspicious vow.

Even when a full hundred years had passed, the Goddess was not pleased; / thereupon, attaining dispassion, and desiring the destruction of their own bodies,

with Atharvan mantras derived from the Kṣurikāsūkta, O brahmins, / they repeatedly cut off their own flesh, consecrated with mantras, and with devotion

they made oblations into the well-kindled fire. / Then, from that sacrificial pit, a four-armed woman with a lovely face,

clad in white garments, resembling the morning sun, emerged; / and likewise another, with beautiful eyes and face, resembling molten gold,

holding a sword, terrifying, emerged from that pit; / that other power was of a similar form, exceedingly fierce.

The two said: “Ask for a boon in your hearts, difficult to obtain though it be.”

The two said: / “Our beloved husband, the powerful King of Kāśi, / was slain in battle by the enraged Kālayavanas.

Undoubtedly, O great goddesses, that must be done / whereby their destruction may be brought about through your grace.

And likewise, both of you must respectfully remain right here / for the protection of our city; this indeed is the duty intended by the two of us.”

Having heard their words, both those goddesses then, / having said, “So be it,” remained in that pit.

Meanwhile, from that pool, by hundreds of thousands, / countless Mothers of diverse forms emerged: 22

one had an elephant face, another a horse face; / others had dog faces, and others had the faces of birds and goats; 23

others had animal bodies with faces born of humans; / some were three-headed, five-headed, and others ten-headed; 24

some had faces situated on their private parts, others on their chests; / others stood with faces on their sides, and others with faces on their backs; 25

some had one arm, some two arms, and others five arms; / others had twenty arms, and others were armless; 26

some had many legs, some were legless, and others had a single leg; / and others had half-legs, facing downward, terrifying; 27

some were one-eyed, two-eyed, and others three-eyed; / some rode on elephants, and others mounted horses; 28

others were mounted on bulls, monkeys, lions, goats, tigers, and serpents; / others rode on monitor lizards, horses, and donkeys, and some relied on birds; 29

thousands rode on tortoises, cocks, snakes, and the like, / crying out, weeping, and others singing, / dancing, laughing, and engaged in mutual play. 30

Some had hair standing erect, some were hairless, and many had hair on their limbs; / some had long hair, some were bald, and likewise some had horse-like manes; 31

some had short teeth, some were toothless, and others had long, terrifying teeth; / others had elephant tusks, and iron-toothed ones inspiring fear; 32

some had pendulous ears, some were earless, and others had winnowing-basket ears; / some had peg-like ears, bad ears, many ears, or beautiful ears; 33

some wore a single garment, some were naked, and others wore many garments; / some were clad in hides, and some covered with rags; 34

frightful, holding swords, holding arrows, and holding spears; / others holding nooses, others holding darts and bows, / holding tridents and mallets, and adorned with bhusuṇḍi-clubs in hand. 35

Then, having thus heard from the two [goddesses], all of them, filled with joy, / set out to where those Kālayavanas were stationed. 36

Then, beholding that army arisen from the goddess, / bearing a fierce form, ferocious, deformed with hideous faces, 37

all having dejected faces and terrified with fear on all sides, / as they ran away, they were consumed by those deities completely without mercy. 38

Together with children and the elderly, the realm of those evil-minded ones, / along with the women, was devoured by those deities. 39

Having thus depopulated that kingdom, all of them, filled with joy, / returned once again to their own place, O best of brahmins. 40

Then, having bowed low with humility, they said to the two [goddesses]: / "Those black Yavanas have been slain together with their sons, cattle, and kinsmen, 41

and that entire great country of theirs has been laid waste. / Now let some food be granted for our satisfaction, / and indeed make known to us some place for our dwelling." 42

The two goddesses said: / "In this mortal world, whatever pregnant women sleep / during the light of the twilight hour, let their foetus immediately belong to you. 43

Those who go out weeping in public squares and crossroads, / their foetus is handed over to you; let it be consumed! 44

Those who roam about, make love, or sleep while polluted by food remnants, / the foetus of all of them is indeed for your food. 45

In whichever lying-in chamber food remnants are produced, / that infant is assigned for your food. 46

The infant for whom no sixth-night vigil is held / shall become food for you; there is no doubt about this. 47

Or where the fire goes out in the lying-in chamber, / that one bearing the form of an infant shall become food for you. 48

Whichever lying-in chamber is devoid of auspicious rites, / the infant who remains in it is assigned to you. 49

Or whatever infants sleep in the open air during twilight, / all of them are offered for your food. 50

When a person's birthday arrives at the end of a year, and no auspicious rite / is performed, his body is assigned to you. 51

A man who performs an oil massage and does not bathe, / he is given for your food; there is no doubt about this. 52

A man who remains polluted by food remnants, or who stands in the middle of a square, / should be devoured by all of you without hesitation of mind. 53

Or a man who, deluded by lust, approaches a menstruating woman, / sleeps naked, or bathes naked, should be devoured swiftly. 54

And the foolish-minded one who bathes at night facing south / and lies down to sleep, he too should be devoured swiftly. 55

And he who discharges urine or faeces facing north at night / or facing south by day, he is certainly fit to be eaten. 56

He who eats curd and barley meal at nightfall / and has intercourse with an outcaste woman, he must indeed be devoured swiftly." 57

Sūta said: / Having been addressed thus at that time by the two, those deities / surrounded them on all sides and then remained with delighted minds. 58

In the meantime, the glorious King Camatkāra / built a palace for the two, resembling the peak of Kailāsa. 59

From then on, in that sacred field of great prosperity, the two became famous / under the names Ambā and Vṛddhā, always intent on protecting the city. 60

A man who, rising in the morning, looks upon their face, / for a full year no misfortune befalls him. 61

Whoever performs worship to them at the beginning or at the end of an auspicious ceremony, / no misfortune whatever arises for him on the earth. 62

And the man who performs worship to them at the time of a journey, / having attained his desired fruit, shall quickly reach his own home. 63

Whoever constantly offers an oblation to the two of them on the eighth and the fourteenth days / shall attain desired wishes here and a good destination after death.

He who, endowed with faith, performs worship to the two / on the day named Mahānavamī shall always remain free from thorns.

Thus ends the eighty-eighth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Ambā and Vṛddhā', in the Māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvarakṣetra, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.