Skandapurana 6.1.26.53

Vyāsa said: / Sacred abodes have been proclaimed by you, O sage. / Tell me now the extent of the forest of Mahākāla. // 1
Sanatkumāra said: / Just as I heard it in ancient times as Brahmā himself spoke it, / that I shall declare to you; listen as I tell it. // 2
To the extent of a single yojana, adorned on all four sides / with golden arched gateways hung with strings of pearls, // 3
the gates shine there, with stationed golden pitchers, / with gates facing white lotuses, adorned with many gems. // 4
And stationed by Maheśvara, the mighty guardians of the gates / shine at those gates, bestowing grace upon the worlds. // 5
Piṅgaleśa stands in the east, the sun appearing in youthful form, / facing the sacred ford, fair-complexioned, heavy, followed by hosts of attendants. // 6
In the south also stands the great yogin Kāyāvarohaṇeśvara; / the lord of wealth stands at the western gate facing the sacred field, // 7
assigned by Maheśa, stationed in the western quarter; / and having taken his place in the northern direction stands Uttareśvara, // 8
the accomplisher of all deeds, commanded by Śaṃkara. / Those very righteous mortals who dwell here within the sacred field, // 9
upon dying, go to the city of Rudra in aerial chariots that fulfill all desires. / On the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, or during the conjunction of the sun and the moon, // 10
having bowed to the five Īśānas in reverse and direct order, / fasting for a single day, meditating on Maheśvara, // 11
one is freed from all sins, even those accumulated over many births. / And thus, O brahmin, he who undertakes the pilgrimage to the five Īśānas // 12
goes to the realm of Rudra in this very body of his. / Now listen as I declare another pilgrimage to the five Īśānas, destructive of all sins, // 13
so that it may be performed with ease. / Having bathed in the morning in the Rudrasaras on the eleventh day, concentrated in mind, // 14

having performed the śrāddha and bowed to Mahākāla and the lord Īśāna, / having then gone to Piṅgaleśa and bathed, he should perform the śrāddha. // 15
Then approaching the god Piṅgaleśvara, who is the lord of Gaṇas, / having worshipped him with perfumes, flowers, and incense, he should depart. // 16
Having reached Mahākāleśvara, bathed again and with senses conquered, / he should worship the eternal, self-manifest lord of the gods of gods. // 17
He should spend the night in the northeast after taking an evening meal, / meditating on Maheśāna, resting his body upon the ground. // 18
On the twelfth day, having bathed in the morning, the man should perform everything as before; / having gone to Kāyāvarohaṇa, he should worship as at Piṅgaleśvara. // 19
Then, in the same way on the thirteenth day, he should worship Bilveśa in the west; / on the fourteenth day likewise he should worship Uttareśvara in the north. // 20
On the new moon day, pure and bathed, he should worship Mahākāleśvara / with perfumes, flowers, incenses, and various offerings of food. // 21
Having performed singing, dancing, and the like, bowing down he should beg forgiveness; / and having performed the pilgrimage mentioned before, he should then go to his own home. // 22
He should feed five brahmins devoted to the worship of Śiva; / having bowed down to those twice-born residing at Mahākāla, who are the forms of deities, // 23
and worshipped them with gold and new garments made of fine threads, / he should give a chariot at Piṅgalaka, and an elephant at Kāyāvarohaṇa. // 24
Having given a horse at Bilveśvara, and a bull in the north, / and having given a cow furnished with all accessories at Mahākāla— // 25
he who does this thus, O Vyāsa, hear the meritorious fruit for him! // 26
Together with his paternal and maternal lines, he rejoices in heaven / with singing and dancing of apsarases, in aerial chariots that fulfill all desires. // 27
Thus ends the praise of the pilgrimage to the five Īśānas.
He who circumambulates Kuśasthalī with fixed vows / has circumambulated the earth with its seven continents. // 28
That man who beholds Padmāvatī and worships her with lotuses,

having offered incense and food offerings, goes to the city of Brahmā upon death. // 29
Having worshipped Svarṇaśṛṅgāṭikā, O Vyāsa, with flowers resembling gold / with great devotion, he goes to the abode of Śiva. // 30
He who beholds the goddess Avantinī, renowned in the three worlds, / goes to the city of Indra in an aerial chariot that fulfills all desires. // 31
He who worships the goddess Amarāvatī with lotuses with devotion / rejoices forever in heaven, delighted together with the immortals. // 32
He who beholds the goddess Ujjayanī with devotion and concentrated mind, / endowed with all sovereignty, is glorified in the realm of Rudra. // 33
And he who beholds Viśālā with concentrated mind, with devotion to Rudra, / is freed from the three kinds of sins; there should be no doubt about this. // 34
Thus ends the greatness of the seven Kalpas.
Hear, O Vyāsa, of the great sacred ford worshipped in ancient times by Brahmā, / named Akrūreśvara, where the grandfather attained perfection. // 35
Having performed worship of the deity there, fasting on the eighth day of the dark fortnight, / with conquered senses, pure and self-controlled, one attains the realm of Rudra. // 36
A man remaining in his house in the morning should not speak with anyone; / having beheld the god Akrūreśvara, he obtains the fruit of giving gold. // 37
Thus ends the greatness of Akrūreśvara.
He who beholds Brahmā, pure, bathed, and with conquered senses, / is freed from terrible sin, and goes to the realm of Brahmā upon death. // 38
Brahmā, seated in the lotus posture, meditating on the supreme state, / was addressed by the best of sages, Vasiṣṭha and others, concerning the origin of actions: // 39
The seers said: / The Ādityas, the Maruts, the Sādhyas, and both the Aśvins, / and the ancestors of the worlds who are worshipped on earth by mortals, // 40
the planets, the sun, the stars, the yakṣas, the elephants of the quarters, and the fire and wind— / these gods, and all of us, are recited as your portions. // 41
Why do you meditate, O lord of gods? Declare all this to us! // 42
Brahmā said:

The two kinds of knowledge whose nature is truth, both the higher and the lower, / are my two forms, eternal and embodied. // The seers said: // O grandfather, how may we know you, the supreme lord, / through whose darśana the highest perfection is attained by us? // Brahmā said: // There is a supreme sacred field of Maheśvara, called Kuśasthalī. / Desiring to perform a sacrifice, I prayed to the god Śrīkaṇṭha, the lord of Pārvatī. // When begged, that god, Parameṣṭhin, said to me: / “This sacred field, a full yojana all around, O Grandfather, // is granted by me to you, O lord, except for the Mahākāla forest.” / There I was barred; hidden in that forest out of anger, / Kapardin said there: “We shall not come near you.” // Then the sacrifice was begun under the protection of Nārāyaṇa. / Yet my sacrifice was known by Śambhu, the god of gods. // Kapardin then came to the sacrificial enclosure to beg for alms. / Then the sacrificers said to him there: “Do not stay here, loathsome one!” // And Kapardin said to them there: “I shall return.” / Having said this and set down his skull-bowl right there on the ground, // Kapardin, the supreme lord, went to the river Śiprā to bathe. / When that Kapardin had gone to the Śiprā, the twice-born said: // “How can the fire-offering be made when a skull is resting in the assembly? / The wise declared of old that purifications are free of skulls.” // That skull was cast aside by an assembly member with his own hand. / When it was thrown, another appeared; when that was thrown, another appeared again.