Skandapurana 5.90

The seers said: / As Agnitīrtha and Brahmatīrtha were mentioned by you previously, / yet their origin and māhātmya have not been told, O wise one;

therefore, speak of each one separately in detail; / we have not attained satiety hearing your nectar-like speech.

Sūta said: / Here I shall proclaim to you the story that destroys sins, / arising from Agnitīrtha, auspicious, bringing all happiness.

Formerly there was a king named Pratīpa, born in the lunar dynasty, / endowed with valour and skilled in the knowledge of Brahman.

Two sons, endowed with all auspicious marks, were born to him: / Devāpi was the first among them, and the second was Śaṃtanu, O twice-born.

Then, when that best of kings, Pratīpa, attained the state of Śiva, / Devāpi, having renounced the kingdom, departed to the forest for the sake of austerity.

And then Śaṃtanu, his younger brother, was quickly established / by all the ministers in the ancestral kingdom.

In the meantime, Indra, filled with wrath, did not rain / for twelve years while he ruled the kingdom.

Consequently, all the people fell into distress, afflicted by hunger; / whoever did not fall into the power of death became like Cāmuṇḍā.

Wives were abandoned by husbands, and sons by their own fathers; / and so mothers by sons—what to say of other people?

If by chance anywhere anything was seen belonging to anyone, / grain, whether cooked or uncooked, it was seized by force by others.

All the trees dried up, and likewise whatever reservoirs of water there were; / and rivers, even the Gaṅgā and others, were reduced to very little water.

When such failure of rain had occurred and the path of dharma was lost, / this world was filled with heaps of bones and covered with ash.

No one performed sacrifices, nor private Vedic study, nor vows; / thus the sky was looked upon for rain by those overwhelmed with hunger.

At that very time, the great sage Viśvāmitra, / whose entire body was reduced to skin and bones, afflicted by hunger, [wandered] here and there.

Wandering about, he then reached a certain deserted village, / filled all around with heaps of bones originating from dead mortals.

Then, wandering there, he arrived at the dwelling of an outcaste, / empty, strewn with cattle bones, and enveloped in a foul stench.

Then he saw there a dead dog that had lain there for a long time, / thoroughly dried up, devoid of smell, lying at the edge of the house.

Then, having taken it up, intent on the conduct permissible in distress, / and having washed it afterwards in water, the sage cut it into pieces.

And then, emaciated by hunger, he cooked it on a well-kindled fire / for the sake of eating; then, having taken the first portion of the cooked food,

and having gratified the ancestors, as he was about to offer it into the fire, / just then the fire, abandoning the entire surface of the earth,

immediately vanished from the sight of all inhabitants of the earth, / harboring great anger in his heart against Indra.

Meanwhile, when the fire had departed from the mortal world, / the people who remained on the surface of the earth were especially afflicted.

Meanwhile, the gods, led by Brahmā and Viṣṇu, / wandered the surface of the earth in search of the fire.

Then, as they were wandering, a large elephant was seen, / sighing, fallen on the ground, afflicted by the heat of the fire.

Then the gods, seeing the elephant, asked with haste: / 'Was the fire seen here by you in the forest, O elephant?'

The elephant said: / 'The fire has entered into this dense thicket of reeds; / just now, scorched by it, I have come here with difficulty.'

Then the fire, surrounded in that reed-thicket / by the gods, departed after giving a curse to the king of elephants:

'Because I was pointed out by you to the gods, O lowest of elephants, / therefore the tongue in your mouth shall be inverted.'

Having cursed the elephant thus, the fire quickly vanished again; / and the gods also followed close behind him, desiring to see him.

Then a parrot was seen by them as they were wandering in the great forest: / 'O parrot, if the fire has been seen by you, tell us!'

The parrot said:
"That pippala tree which is seen from afar within the hollow of a śamī tree—
in that aśvattha tree fire is present, O best of the gods."

"My nest, which was situated there together with my young ones,
was burned up by his heat; I escaped with difficulty."

Having heard that, the hollow of that śamī tree was at that very moment
surrounded by all those gods; and the fire, having cursed the parrot, quickly departed:

"Since I have been revealed to the gods by you, sinful one,
therefore, parrot, your speech will not be distinct."

Having spoken thus, Jātavedas, wishing to avoid being seen by the gods,
in the sacred field born of Hāṭakeśvara, of the supreme god [Brahmā],

having seen a very deep body of water situated in the north-eastern direction,
entered it and took refuge there secretly.

Meanwhile, the fish, tortoises, and frogs there,
burned by the heat of the fire, were seen dead by the hundreds.

Then a single half-burned frog, by the remainder of his lifespan,
emerged from that water and was seen by the gods from afar.

And he was asked: "Tell us, frog, if the consumer of oblations has been seen by you;
for that purpose all the gods, along with Indra, have arrived here."

The frog said:
"In this body of water fire is currently staying;
because of him, these numerous water-born creatures living within the water are dead."

"Our family has met its death, O best of gods;
I have come out with difficulty from this watery abode."

Having heard that, all those gods, having surrounded that body of water
on all sides, stood there; and the fire indeed cursed the frog:

"Since I have been reported to the gods by you, foolish one,
therefore you shall surely become tongueless here on the surface of the earth."

Having spoken thus, the fire then came out from that place.
Then he was addressed by the great-souled Brahmā himself:

"O Fire, why do you run away upon seeing the gods?
You are the foremost of all these [gods], and you are established as their mouth.

An oblation offered properly into you approaches the sun;
from the sun rain is born, from rain comes food, and from that the creatures.

Therefore, you alone stand as the creator and ordainer of the world;
when you are satisfied, the universe is maintained; when you are angry, it will perish.

All sacrifices beginning with the Agniṣṭoma are established in you;
and all beings live by taking refuge in you.

O Agni, you always move inside all beings;
by that alone, [the fire] residing in the belly thoroughly digests food and drink.

Therefore, grant your favor to all the dwellers of heaven;
tell the reason for your anger, because of which you depart having abandoned [them]."

Sūta said:
Having heard those words of that supreme god,
Agni, feeling affection rather than anger and bowing to the lotus-born [Brahmā], said:

Agni said:
"Conceiving anger against Indra, O lotus-born one,
I vanished, abandoning the world; hear the reason for that.

Because of the drought caused by the great Indra, the destruction of herbs occurred;
then I was offered dog's flesh by Viśvāmitra.

For this reason I vanished, not out of desire, nor out of confusion;
afraid of eating what is uneatable—this which I have spoken is the truth."

Having heard that, the four-faced one then said to Indra:
"Fire has spoken quite appropriately; why do you not cause rain?"

Indra said:
"Bypassing his elder brother, Śaṃtanu, the ruler of the earth,
has entered upon the ancestral kingdom, O grandfather.

For this reason rain has been withheld by me, O lord;
therefore tell me what I should do now; you are the authority, O grandfather."

The grandfather said:
"The sin incurred by that transgression has been endured
by that king by means of the drought; therefore make rain quickly,

so that, by my word, these three worlds do not go to destruction
prematurely, O lord of the gods, on account of hunger due to the absence of crops."

Meanwhile, Indra, filled with haste, commanded
the Puṣkarāvartaka clouds to rain upon the surface of the earth.

They too, by Indra's command, filled the entire surface of the earth
at that moment, thundering and accompanied by lightning.

Then Brahmā, together with the gods, spoke again to the consumer of oblations:
"O purifier, become visible in the agnihotra rites of the brahmins;
now request from me your desired boon."

Agni said:
"May this holy body of water become renowned on the surface of the earth
by my name, O four-faced one, remembered as Vahnitīrtha.

Whoever, having risen in the morning, bathes here endowed with faith,
and having muttered the Agnisūkta, gazes upon you with reverence—
satisfaction must be granted to him by you quickly, according to my word, O lord."

The venerable Brahmā said:
"Whoever, having risen in the morning, bathes here, a twice-born knower of the Veda,
and having muttered the Agnisūkta, shall then gaze upon me,

he shall obtain the entire fruit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice;
and sin born of many births shall go to destruction, O purifier."

Sūta said:
Having spoken thus, the venerable grandfather ceased;
and the purifier also remained in the agnihotra rites of the brahmins.

Thus the greatly wonderful Vahnitīrtha arose there;
a man who bathes there in the morning is freed from all sins.

Agni said:
"For me, who have remained unsatisfied for twelve years, O lord of the world,
while mortals were afflicted by hunger, no oblation was obtained anywhere.

Sacrifices will take place only after a long time, O lord,
when animals and other crop-eating creatures have multiplied again on the earth."

The venerable Brahmā said:
"Whichever brahmins reside here, O consumer of oblations,
they, by offering the continuous flow of clarified butter, will always, day and night, [satisfy] you..."

They will satisfy [you] with true devotion, and from that you will obtain nourishment. / They too will be endowed with their cherished desires. 73

O fire, at the time of the sun's transit, when those who offer the continuous stream of clarified butter / offer oblations into you, O fire, 74

whatever sin they have committed knowingly or unknowingly, / all that, from birth up to their death, will go to destruction. 75

When you have become satisfied, thereafter there will be a king, / highly renowned, named Śibi, born of Uśīnara. 76

Equipped with faith, having performed a twelve-year sacrificial session, / he will satisfy you for a year with the offering of a continuous stream of clarified butter / from the mouth of a jar, uninterrupted day and night. 77

Then, having attained supreme satisfaction, you will attain supreme nourishment, / being worshipped on the face of the earth by all the best among the knowers of the Veda. 78

From this day forth, whatever rite there shall be here, / whether propitiatory or nourishing, accompanied by a continuous stream of clarified butter, / all that will become exceedingly satisfying to you. 79

Even whatever vaiśvadeva rite of the twice-born / is devoid of the continuous stream of clarified butter will become fruitless. 80

Since that sacrificial rite and the like become complete through it, / [and likewise] the propitiatory and the vaiśvadeva, it is called here the full offering (pūrṇāhuti). 81

Whoever, endowed with proper faith, offers the continuous stream of clarified butter, / he will attain completely whatever desire is meditated upon in his mind.” 82

Thus ends the ninetieth chapter, entitled ‘The Description of the Greatness of the Continuous Stream of Clarified Butter,’ in the Greatness of Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. 90