Skanda Purana 6.1.4

Vyāsa said: / "That archer named Nara who was born from the skull, / why did he now arise in this way at the creation by Viśvakarman? / How was he produced intentionally by lord Rudra, / or by the Blessed One Viṣṇu, or by Brahmā, according to different dispositions? / By whom and from what was he produced among Śaṃkara, Acyuta, and Brahmā? / As for Brahmā who is Hiraṇyagarbha, who was born four-faced, / how did that wonderful fifth face of his also appear? / How did that blessed Brahmā stand, fixing his mind on Rudra, / by whom, foolish-minded, Nara was sent to kill Hara?" / Sanatkumāra said: / "These two alone, Maheśvara and Hari, abide in existence; / nothing is unknown to those two great-souled ones, whether achieved or unachieved. / That which was the fifth face of noble Brahmā, / that was his mental fire, borne indeed by that head. / The Nara who was spoken of as belonging to Brahmā was also his mental fire; / Mahādeva held him, placing him between his fingers. / Having seen his origin before, Nara was thus great; / therefore the skull arose rubbed upon the finger. / Having struck him with an arrow in battle, Brahmā's passion was removed; / the pure sattva was bewildered by rajas, since the Lord acts at will." / Vyāsa said: / "How was the fire produced, the womb held by Sarva (Śiva)? / Tell that in detail, O Blessed One worshipped by sages!" / Sanatkumāra said: / "In the beginning he emitted the Unmanifest and other principles, and then the cosmic egg was born; / Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, was born with the radiance of the color of gold. / That self-manifest one, having performed great austerity for a hundred divine years, / standing in austerity, uttered the sacred texts: 'Bhūr, bhuvaḥ, svar.' / From the connection of the sacred texts with the mind, the fire was later born; / when that fire fell downward, burning the earth..."

With both hands, that fire was placed above the earth by Brahmā. / Then with the right hand the fire is led onto the altar. // 15
Formerly its flame fell downward; when it was held with flame upward / and turned face up, because it was formed reciprocally by Brahmā, // 16
blazing upward with flames, crackling with sparks of every sound, / it then spoke fiercely to the golden-hued Brahmā: // 17
"Why, O Lord, have I been prevented from devouring the earth? / I am overwhelmed with hunger; let food be given to me!" // 18
Addressed in this way, Brahmā offered his own body-hairs to the fire. / But the lean fire devoured all the body-hairs of Brahmā, // 19
and said, "I have no satisfaction, nor any ease in my body." / Then Brahmā offered his skin, and the fire devoured the skin. // 20
Then the fire indeed said to him, "I have no satisfaction." / Cutting away [his flesh] with the skin, Prajāpati offered his own flesh. // 21
And it said, "I have no satisfaction, nor any ease in my body." / Then Brahmā offered his bones; hungry, it devoured them. // 22
Then a body devoid of elements was made for the fire by the Creator. / Seeing Brahmā then bodiless, it said to him: // 23
"Ah, O Brahmā, I have no satisfaction, nor any ease in my body!" / Enraged, Brahmā split that fire into two with the sound huṃ. // 24
Both weeping fires spoke to Prajāpati for the sake of food. / Again with the sound huṃ Brahmā divided each one into two. // 25
Three of them wept, and one wept uncovered. / Struck by enraged Brahmā, O Vyāsa, with the very sound huṃ, // 26
and as the fire wailed excessively, Brahmā, filled with compassion again, / said: "Devour the bodily elements of those overcome by lust." // 27
That time belonged to that lust; that livelihood was ordained. / Seeing the A-kāra fire situated within his mind, he who is born from the mind— // 28
the Huṃ-kāra fire blazed up, and it said, "What is this?"

Brahmā said to it, "You too resort to a livelihood as you desire, // 29
among the gods, or outside, or in the hermitages of the sages." / Addressed thus by him, it immediately found this livelihood pleasing. // 30
"I myself will grant it in this way," he spoke again and again. / Since this second fire arose from the sound huṃ, // 31
wherever the sound huṃ is uttered with pride or insult, / that is your livelihood by my command, for the appeasement of your hunger. // 32
Summoning the I-kāra fire, Brahmā spoke these words: / "May this livelihood be yours, O Fire: you shall burn the eaten food." // 33
Summoning the U-kāra fire, Brahmā spoke these words: / "Whatever deep meditation upon the earth is weighty, O Lord, resort to that. // 34
And I will arrange an abode and food for you." / Addressed thus by him, that fire which is the mass of stones on the earth— // 35
since fire was declared by him to be in the mountain and the fortress, O great sage Vyāsa— / that U-kāra fire is also the submarine fire in the ocean. // 36
That one too, divided and summoned by Brahmā wishing for an abode, [heard him]: / "You are the eye of the whole world," Brahmā spoke these words. // 37
"Therefore reveal refined speech to the twice-born. / For divine and virtuous [speech destroys] sins, but unrefined speech destroys longevity. // 38
Therefore, refined speech is to be known as virtuous for the twice-born. / And speech is the mother of the twice-born; she is established in the mouth. // 39
Due to the arrangement of false syllables, unrefined speech brings misfortune; / it destroys the speaker; therefore, the fire [resides where] a twice-born person continually purifies it. // 40
Calling again upon the A-kāra fire that had no eyes, / Prajāpati spoke the Vedic speech of speech, but its eyes were closed. // 41
The fire said to Brahmā, "I am the mouth of speech! / Grant me an abode, supreme and best among all splendours." // 42
Brahmā said to it, "Since you desire a place of splendour, / therefore yours shall be the luminous abode of the sun. // 43
Since when people look upon your splendour, the eye becomes weak,

therefore, endued with that splendour, one might somehow look upon it without winking." // 44
Then the Grandfather spoke to the distinct I-kāra fire, / which had approached gazing upon Brahmā with a gentle look: // 45
"Because you came here swiftly with a gentle look, O being of great strength, / therefore I shall give you an abode pleasing to all beings. // 46
Cool of nature and cold-rayed, you shall become the moon, / exceeding all splendours, divine, gentle, supremely radiant. // 47
Stationed in trees, you will surpass all splendours with your brilliance." / Having spoken thus and dismissed it, he then summoned the U-kāra fire: // 48
"Come here, come!" Saying this, taking it up, he placed it upon his head. / Stationed there, it becomes this fifth, upward face. // 49
That U-kāra fire was established with such a form; / therefore one should point out fire and the sun as one. // 50
The supreme form of the fire of existence spoke this to Brahmā: / "Grant me too a splendid place, just as [you have done] for yourself." // 51
Brahmā said to it, "Which place pleases you, O Fire?" / The fire replied to him, "Declare a supreme place for me." // 52
"There is no fitting place for you, therefore it will be thus: / if you desire to dwell here, you will indeed abide here. // 53
The perpetual conduct in the world is the cause of the world's maintenance. / For the sake of existence, abide here with your own strength and valour. // 54
Because here, endowed with beauty by the splendour of great flames, / you will obtain unequalled radiance among all creatures; / for this first dharma is not due to desire deluded by illusion." // 55
When this was said by Brahmā, that fire blazed up a thousandfold. / Then, surrounded by endless flames of varied colours and forms, // 56
A-kāra, I-kāra, and U-kāra—Brahmā then beheld it. / That fire did not attain pacification; it increased even more. // 57
Everything was pervaded by the fire of existence, across, above, and below.

Seeing himself cast upwards by flames on all sides, / Brahmā, contemplating and particularly afraid, / placed his folded hands upon his head, bowed down, and then praised him.

Wishing to know that treasure of fiery splendor, the lord of all, Prajāpati [praised him]

with esoteric hymns from the Nirukta spoken in the Ṛg, Yajus, and Sāman.

Brahmā said:

Homage to you of sevenfold splendor, the supreme Self of the supreme;

homage to the counter-ear of wonders, to the treasury of splendor.

[Homage to you] who are the seed of cosmic existences, the deluder of delusion,

the darkness at the cycle of the yugas, and unbearable time after time.

O upward-faced one, homage to you, whose nature is sattva, whose nature is the earth;

from whose blazing flames water arises, O lord of water-born [lotuses], O mover in water;

whose eyes are like the blooming petals of a lotus, O water-god, O fire!

O you of dark beauty, you whose path is black [smoke], you who grant the path to heaven;

you whose practice is the sacrificial offering, whose form is the sacrifice, homage, homage to you!

O gold-wombed one, residing within the śamī tree, victory to you, eternal god!

O dispeller of darkness, great swallower, lover of one's own, destroyer of darkness,

O blazing radiant lord of the gods, O Citrabhānu, homage to you!

O fierce Vaiśvānara fire, upward-flaming purifier, all-pervading, / O Vibhāvasu, illustrious one, black-pathed one, homage, homage to you!

Sanatkumāra said:

Thus praised at that time, that fire spoke these words to Brahmā:

“I am pleased with you, O Brahmā; your intended work will succeed.”

Thus addressed, Brahmā then bowed and spoke again:

“I desire to know, O lord, who you indeed are, O blessed one.”

He then said to Brahmā: “You are the Puruṣa, the Prajāpati.

My supreme form is unknowable; therefore, look upon me with [vision] fit for it.”

Then, through divine [vision], he saw the eternal blessed one,

the all-knowing creator of order, the Īśvara beyond existence and non-existence,

fire, sky, earth, the visible and invisible supreme abode,

the past, present, and future, the universe mobile and immobile.

The god continually creates, since the Lord consumes everything.

Then Prajāpati, with a hymn of great becoming and future glory,

praised the original god, ancient, unborn, and imperishable.

Then, having seen the god of intensely red color, Prajāpati,

who had arms and feet on every side, and faces and heads of fire on every side,

the guide of the manifest and unmanifest, bowing down with his own head, [said:]

“Look [upon me]; homage to you, whose self is the origin of the universe!

Earth, wind, space, and whatever else is the three worlds,

the lord of the worlds and non-worlds, and the universe mobile and immobile,

the creation of elements, the creation of beings, and likewise the creation of states of being—”

beholding of his own accord with his eye the one whose self consists of Brahmā's splendor,

[he saw] whatever collection of things exists, all that is immobile and mobile.

Thus praised at that time, that beginningless blessed Lord,

then the Lord (Īśa) said to Brahmā: “You have seen [reality] just as it is.

Now create all creatures, you who are full of modesty.

I am the maker; you are the imitator in causing the maintenance of the worlds.

Carry out this destiny that was created by me in the past.”

Thus addressed by the god of gods, Brahmā spoke these words:

“Homage to you, Mahādeva, Bhava, Śarva, homage to you!

As I carry out the creation of creatures by your grace, O Maheśvara,

I wish to obtain a companion given by you, O lord of the world.”

Maheśvara said:

“Since for you, meditating and desiring a son, desiring to create,

[this] is ordained, O god, it shall be, if you desire my birth [from you].

Having attained sonship, I, your Lord, will cut off your fifth head,

and there I will produce both Nara and Nārāyaṇa.”

Brahmā said:

“How is the god Nārāyaṇa regarded as ours through tapas?

Tell of that blessed companion who will be worthy of our worship.”

Then Brahmā saw Hari, the imperishable Acyuta, through his splendor,

the one reaching everywhere, approachable, Śiva whose nature is Nārāyaṇa,

the Lord Nārāyaṇa standing above the splendor of Maheśvara.

he made it take a glorious form due to its equality in power, calling out to the distressed one.

Touching [it] with his finger, the god addressed words to Brahmā:

“O Brahmā, [this is] your supreme abode; the seer is a follower of Nārāyaṇa.

He shall be the foremost of all archers, for the protection of the world.

O Nārāyaṇa of great valour, this power is mine.”

Having said this, the lord god took that fire with his hand;

he placed it between the nail and finger of his right hand.

Having thus honoured both [the fire] and Nara continuously, Maheśvara,

having shown [it] to Brahmā, then vanished right there.

Then Brahmā spoke to that fire at the end of the yuga,

touching it with his right and left hands as though soothing it with his speech:

“Bhṛgu and Aṅgiras shall be my sons, without a doubt;

in my very lineage here, having renowned deeds, you two shall be born.

Dividing the fire into two through him, the sacrifice of creation will take place.

May you two remain there on earth, devoted to giving.”

The two fires, brought together by Brahmā, were urged by Brahmā;

therefore, they should be produced in this manner by churning, according to ritual injunction.

Hence their union is recited there in the aśvattha tree within the womb of the śamī tree.

The Bhārgava and Āṅgirasa fires are spoken of as twofold and divine;

therefore, that beneficial to sons is declared to be the foremost, the fourth.

Thus, O Vyāsa, was this Nara born in a former birth;

thus did the fifth head of Brahmā come to be.

Whoever comprehends this incomparable emanation of fiery splendour, O god,

calm, self-controlled, and with senses conquered, attains the realm of Brahmā.

The person of pure intellect who, filled with faith, constantly listens to this origin of the fire which reveals the majesty of Paśupati, / and who, O Vyāsa, recites it with devotion before brahmins and deities, immersed in the thought of Bhava, is honoured exceedingly by the gods in the city of Śiva.

Thus ends the fourth chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Origin of Vaiśvānara', in the Avantīkṣetramāhātmya of the fifth Avantyakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.