Skandapurana 5.96

Sūta said: / When that king Ajapāla had thus departed to the netherworld, / his son became king, placed at the head by the ministers; 1

he who constantly went to heaven and always delighted Indra, / and by whom Śanaiścara was conquered as he was cleaving Rohiṇī; 2

in whose house Viṣṇu himself, becoming fourfold, / joyfully took birth for the destruction of Rāvaṇa. 3

Having come to this good sacred field, Madhusūdana was propitiated by him; / having built a beautiful temple, [the deity] was then installed by him. 4

A step-well built by himself also became renowned; / it attained the highest fame in this world under the name “Rājavāpī.” 5

Whoever performs a śrāddha in it when the fifth day arrives, / especially during the fortnight of the departed spirits, that man becomes dear to the virtuous. 6

The seers said: / How was Śani conquered by him as he was cleaving the cart of Rohiṇī, / and how was Nārāyaṇa propitiated by him? Tell [us]! 7

Sūta said: / While that knower of dharma was ruling the earth according to his own duty, / the people constantly lived endowed with supreme happiness. 8

Cows yielded abundant milk, the crops were rich in quality, / the rain-cloud showered at desire, and trees bore fruit according to the season. 9

Then, at a certain time, it was told to that king by astrologers: / “The son of the Sun will effect the cleaving of Rohiṇī. 10

Immediately after that, a famine will soon occur, / and there will be a terrible drought lasting twelve years, / by which the whole surface of the earth will become devoid of men.” 11

Hearing their words, that king went angrily / against Śanaiścara, having mounted an aerial chariot. 12

Formerly, an aerial chariot moving at will had been given to him by the pleased Śakra; / standing in it, he rushed against Śanaiścara. 13

Then, having crossed the path of the sun and then that of the moon, / the king, reaching the pathway of the constellations, strung his great bow. 14

Setting an arrow upon it there, he rushed at Śanaiścara, / and standing before the son of the Sun who looked downward, he said: 15

“Abandon this path of Rohiṇī right now, O Śanaiścara, / at my word! Otherwise I shall dispatch you to Yama's abode 16

with this sharp-pointed, straight-jointed arrow / charged with the mantra of a divine missile; this I tell you truthfully!” 17

Hearing his speech, which was exceedingly terrible and forceful, / Śani was struck with wonder, and then spoke this: 18

“Tell me, who are you, O noble one, who obstruct my path / that is inaccessible to anyone in the world, even to all the gods and demons?” 19

The king said: / “I am the king named Daśaratha, born in the Solar Dynasty, / the son of Aja; I have arrived in anger to restrain your desire!” 20

Śani said: / “There is no connection between you and me, O lord of the earth, / such that you, filled with intense fury, wish to destroy my path.” 21

The king said:
"Indeed, you are going to pierce the cart belonging to Rohiṇī.
Just now this statement was declared to me by astrologers.

O Slow-moving One, when that is pierced by you, Śatakratu does not send rain;
so say the astrologers skilled in the science of astronomy.

When a blockage of rain occurs, grains do not grow upon the earth;
from the lack of food, people upon the face of the earth then meet with destruction.

When the destruction of people then takes place, rites like Agniṣṭoma and the rest
do not occur on the surface of the earth; from that utter ruin would indeed ensue.

For this reason, O Sun-born, your path has been blocked [by me]
as you desire to go to Rohiṇī. The truth has been spoken by me."

Śani said:
"Go to your own home, my son; you are pleasing to me as well.
I am pleased by your valour, not by anything else, O king.

No one has performed the deed which has been performed by you;
nor will anyone else, whether god or mortal, ever perform it.

I do not look upwards in any way whatsoever, O protector of the earth,
because whatever is consumed by my glance is reduced to ashes.

As soon as I was born as a child, the feet of my father
were gazed upon by me; they were instantly burnt; therefore I was restrained by my mother:

'You must not look at anything whatsoever, O son,
if dharma arising from a mother’s word is authoritative for you.'

Therefore a great deed, so very hard to accomplish, has been done by you
for the sake of the subjects, O best of rulers, casting far away all fear of me.

Therefore, for your sake, I shall not pierce Rohiṇī
in any way whatsoever, O protector of the earth, even in hundreds of cosmic ages.

Choose a boon from me; therefore today it shall come to pass,
whatever is placed in your heart, hard to obtain for all embodied beings here, O king."

The king said:
"Whoever rubs himself with oil when your day has arrived,
no affliction should be caused by you to him until another day.

Likewise, he who offers gifts of sesame and gifts of iron according to his capacity
on your day, he should surely be protected by you for an entire year

in severe distresses and troubles, always indeed.
And when you are stationed causing transit-affliction, O Sun-born,

he who properly performs an appeasement rite and oblation of sesame with devotion,
with firewood sticks and unbroken grains when your day arrives,

protection should be carefully provided by you for him for seven and a half years,
O fortunate one, if you grant me a boon."

Sūta said:
Having said 'So be it!', Śanaiścara fell silent thereafter
at the request of the ruler of the earth, O best of brahmins.

All this has been related to you in full detail, just as I was asked
by you all, concerning the dialogue between the son of the Sun
and King Daśaratha that took place when the piercing of Rohiṇī was imminent.

Whoever recites this daily, and whoever especially hears it,
all affliction caused by Śanaiścara goes to destruction for him.

Thus ends the ninety-sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Dialogue Between Daśaratha and Śanaiścara', in the Māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvarakṣetra in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [book] in the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.