Skanda Purana 6.1.4.59

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.