Skandapurana 5.95

Sūta said:
Now there is also another [goddess] there who grants the desires of people of the region,
established by King Ajāpāla, destroying sins.

And on the bright fourteenth day, whatever man worships that Ajāpāleśvarī
with devotion, by means of incense, flowers, and ointments,
he attains desired wishes that are difficult to achieve for all human beings.

By the grace of that goddess—this that I have spoken is true—
long ago there was King Ajāpāla, approved by the virtuous,

doing good to all people, like a mother, like a father.
Having obtained the auspicious kingdom of his father and grandfather,

that great-souled one later reflected in his mind by himself:
'I must perform that deed which by other rulers of the earth here
has not been done, nor will be done by those who will exist hereafter.

This alone has been declared the supreme duty of kings:
perpetual protection of the subjects and their happy settlement.

As greedy kings collect taxes from them,
so perturbation of the mind arises in the heart.

Without taxes, kings are not able to maintain
the force of elephants, horses, and so forth, and especially the infantry.

Without that, he would quickly become vulnerable even to the base.
For this reason kings collect taxes from the people.

Therefore, even without elephants and infantry, through the power of austerity
I must quickly render my kingdom free of thorns,

not collecting taxes, constantly gladdening the people,
[distinguishing myself] from other kings, especially the great-souled ones.'

Having thus determined in his mind, having summoned the royal chaplain Vasiṣṭha,
the best of sages, he then respectfully addressed him:

“O brahmin, tell me quickly, on the surface of this earth,
which is the most excellent sacred ford of all, where Maheśvara,
or Vāsudeva, or Brahmā attains satisfaction in a short time?

By means of which I may undertake austerity for the benefit of all people,
not for self-interest, O best of brahmins; I swear by truth by my own self.”

Vasiṣṭha said:
“Three and a half crores of sacred fords are on this earth,
O tiger among kings, endowed with spiritual power.

Likewise, O king, there are sixty-eight sacred fields on the surface of the earth,
to which Maheśvara always grants his presence.

Likewise, all the gods are pleased—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and the others.
Conferring supreme perfection quickly upon mortals, O king,

is the sacred field of the deity Hāṭakeśvara, which destroys sins.
Caṇḍikā, [worshipped] by all the gods as well, attains satisfaction

quickly, when properly propitiated on earth by people endowed with faith.
Therefore, having reached that sacred field, endowed with faith,
propitiate that goddess, O highly fortunate one; swiftly you will obtain perfection.”

Having thus been addressed by him, he then went to that excellent sacred field,
and having installed that goddess, he worshipped her with devotion,

practicing celibacy, pure, devoted to his vow,
restrained, with limited diet, performing ritual ablutions at the three junctures of the day.

As he thus propitiated her there with incense, flowers, and ointments,
intent on worship, that goddess then became pleased with him.

The goddess said:
“I am exceedingly pleased with you, child, by this continuous vow,
by this arrangement of offerings and worship performed by yourself.

Therefore speak, so that I may grant all that is in your heart,
instantly, O ruler of the earth, even that which is difficult for the gods to attain.”

The king said:
“With a desire for the welfare of the people this vow was undertaken by me,
so that through my favor peerless happiness may belong to them.

Therefore, O highly fortunate one, grant to me manifold, wondrous weapons
endowed with consciousness, which move everywhere at will,

which, even while remaining at my side, know upon the earth's surface
transgressions constantly committed in the world, such as violation of another's wife,

and subsequently execute punishment corresponding to that sin,
so that there will be no intermingling of duties among them.

Likewise, O goddess, grant me the diverse collection of mantras,
by which I may quickly effect the suppression of disease-causing beings,

so that all humans in my kingdom may be endowed with happiness,
free from disease, possessed of vigor, and free from fear and sorrow.

I shall not gather elephants, horses, and chariots, O goddess,
since their nourishment comes from wealth, and wealth comes from taxes
collected from all the people; therefore that is not desired by me.”

The auspicious goddess said:
“A most extraordinary undertaking has been commenced by you, O lord of the earth,
which has not been done by anyone, nor will anyone do it.

"Even so, I will do this: I will give you completely / weapons endowed with consciousness and a collection of mantras of that kind,

by which all those very terrible diseases are seized. / Moreover, they must always be protected by you, endowed with my mantras.

If they ever go far away out of your range of sight, / having found more [power] after a long time, they will afflict human beings.

When, O protector of the earth, you go from the earthly realm to heaven, / then whatever is situated before me must be placed here in the water.

All the mantras as well as the divine weapons [will be kept safe] by my command, without doubt, / by which all customary conduct originating from kings may be as before."

Sūta said: / When he said, "Certainly!", instantly, O best of the twice-born, / many divine missiles of his appeared,

endowed with the wealth of consciousness, of such a kind as were requested / by that great-souled one, and likewise the mantras for diseases,

by which diseases are seized and released at will at all times, / [and] situated within the range of sight, they are protected with ease.

Then, having obtained all that favor arisen from Caṇḍikā, / that king gave all those elephants and other things to the brahmins,

excepting his one wife and his one son Daśaratha. / And carefully restraining all those diseases with mantras,

having assumed the form of goats, he himself then protected [them], taking a staff. / As that lord of men was living in this manner on the earth,

there could be no offense even in secret, so how could there be an open one? / If anyone out of negligence should commit a sin in the earthly world,

a punishment corresponding to that immediately arose for him: / whether execution, or imprisonment, or torment arising from an enemy,

even though invisible, those weapons produced instantly. / In the realms of other kings, men committed [offenses] secretly in many ways; / the son of Vivasvat (Yama) seized them.

There, not terrified by fear, [none] would then commit sin, / especially having recognized manifestly that fear of weapons.

Then those people, freed from sin, their bodies completely purified, / the diseases being restrained, attained unsurpassed happiness.

When the worlds were established in this way, their sins and diseases gone, / all the hells that were in the abode of Yama went to emptiness.

No man went to hell, nor did anyone go to the path of death. / As was the Kṛtayuga, even so it remained in the Tretā[yuga].

The activity originating in the realm of Yama being destroyed, / when [the earth] attained equality with heaven through living beings devoid of death,

then the son of Vivasvat, having gone to the abode of Brahmā, / afflicted with sorrow, bowed down to the Grandfather and said:

"Formerly, O Lord, wishing to behold the virtue and non-virtue / of men, I was appointed by you for punishment and favor.

All that has been rendered fruitless by the king Ajāpāla, / who, by the power of austerity, O best of the gods, worshipped the goddess Caṇḍikā.

There are no mental agonies, no physical diseases, and no sins on the earth; / none arises for anyone, O Lord, just as in the Kṛtayuga.

Therefore, O best of the gods, act so that once again, as before, / all the customary transactions may arise in my dwelling."

Hearing that speech of his, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, / looked at the face of Śiva, who was seated nearby.

Then the three-eyed one, laughing loudly, said to the four-faced one, / having heard that most marvelous report originating from Yama.

Maheśvara said: / "For a king who has set out on the path of dharma and acts righteously, / how could prevention be done in this case, and what punishment [could there be]?

Therefore, because a path has been shown by that king, / an unprecedented [path] produced by dharma, executed properly by that great-souled one,

therefore by me too, O best of the gods, an unprecedented / favor must be made for him, such that dharma is not corrupted."

Having spoken thus to the four-faced one, Śiva then said to Yama: / "Tell what remains of this king Ajāpāla's lifespan, / so that, when that time arrives, I may lead him to my own abode."

Yama said: / "Five thousand years of his lifespan have passed, / and fifty-five remain; how then can I wait,

O best of the gods, for such a long time while my own abode has become empty? / Therefore, devise quickly some means for destroying that."

When Yama had spoken thus, having dismissed him to his home, / [Śiva] himself, assuming the form of a tiger, went into his presence,

where that king remained intent on protecting his subjects, / roaring again and again with a sound as deep as a thundercloud.

Beholding that tiger bearing a terrible body, those goats, / terrified, fled for refuge towards Ajāpāla.

Even while that king was striving and protecting [them], / those goats were devoured by Śaṃkara in the form of a tiger.

Then, seeing the slaughter of the goats, that ruler of the earth, / casting away the staff from his hand, seized a sharp weapon,

the fierce [weapon] given to him by the pleased [goddess], resembling the hot-rayed [sun]. / That weapon and the other [weapons] given by the Goddess, Śaṃkara, / Maheśvara, gradually seized with his own mouth.

Then, in the absence of weapons, although held back quickly by his beloved [wife], / the king fought that tiger in hand-to-hand combat.

Then, from the contact with his limbs, abandoning that tiger body, / [Śiva] assumed a body smeared with ashes and adorned with the moon,

having an excellent garland of severed heads, divine, accompanied by a skull-topped club and snakes. / Seeing him, that ruler of the earth, along with his wife, then bowed down;

having offered praise, standing bowed with modesty, / bathed in tears of joy, he spoke in a voice choked with delight.

The king said: / Through ignorance, O God, blows were struck by me against you, / and insult was likewise offered; forgive all that, O all-pervading Lord! 75

The Lord said: / O son, all this insult from you has been forgiven by me, / highly pleased at seeing your superhuman feat. 76

As the kingdom was ruled and the subjects were protected by you, O king, / in such a manner no other ruler of the earth has ever done, nor ever will do. 77

Therefore come with me to Pātāla, O best of earthly kings, / in this very body, together with this lawful wife of yours. 78

You must by no means remain any longer in the mortal world, / since the deed that arose from you is contrary to all the gods. 79

The king said: / I will do so, O God, after going to the great city of Ayodhyā, / establishing my son on the throne, and informing the ministers. 80

Moreover, O God, I was told formerly by the pleased goddess, / by whom a collection of mantras and various weapons were given: 81

“When you abandon the mortal world, which is so hard to leave, O wise one, / they must then all be thrown into my pool.” 82

Now, by your favor, grant them back to me once more, O Lord of the gods, / so that I may become free from debt to that goddess. 83

Addressed thus by him, the Lord who destroys the three cities, / having summoned them all, went quickly and gave them there. 84

And he said: “Your son will become king there on his own, / endowed with valor and generosity, capable of uplifting the lineage. 85

And you, come with me this very day to my dwelling, / having entered here into the holy water born of the pool of the Goddess. 86

Today, on the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Māgha, whatever other person / also worships this Goddess and, endowed with devotion, in this water 87

shall relinquish life by entering, O best of kings, / he too shall go to Pātāla, where Hāṭakeśvara dwells. 88

Or whatever man shall perform a ritual ablution, O best of kings, / to him the one hundred and eight diseases shall not occur.” 89

Having spoken thus, the Supreme Lord took that king together with his wife, / along with those goats and those weapons, / and entered into that water originating from the pool of the Goddess. 90

Then, O best of twice-borns, he was led to his own abode, / in that very human body, accompanied by his wife. 91

Even today he remains there, free from old age and death, / constantly worshiping that god Hāṭakeśvara in Pātāla. 92

Thus that goddess, the Supreme Mistress, arose there, / installed by that king with a mind purified by faith. 93

Thus ends the ninety-fifth chapter, named “The Description of the Māhātmya of Ajāpāleśvarī,” in the section on the Māhātmya of Śrī-Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the auspicious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. 95