Skandapurana 6.3.133

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, O protector of the earth, one should proceed to the excellent four sacred fords, / by the mere sight of which destruction of all sins occurs:

The sacred fords of Kubera, Varuṇa, Yama, and next to them that of Vāyu, / where the wise, very mighty guardians of the worlds achieved perfection.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / For what purpose, O sinless one, was austerity performed by the guardians of the worlds in ancient times, / having resorted to the bank of the Narmadā? Truly, you should tell this to me.

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / They desired an unmoving, firm foundation in this weak, / unenduring saṃsāra of all beings, which is unstable like a drop of water on a blade of grass,

sapless like the core of a plantain tree, and flickering like a mirage, / among the whole fourfold collection of beings, both stationary and moving.

Dharma is mother, dharma is father, dharma is kinsman, and likewise a friend; / it is the support of all living beings in the three worlds, both moving and unmoving.

Knowing thus, all those guardians of the worlds, having prepared themselves, / performed matchless austerity, dedicated to subsisting solely on air.

Then Mahādeva, the supreme lord, became pleased, O king of kings, / when half of the Kṛta age had passed, in a manner suitable to that yuga.

He invited the mighty guardians of the worlds with a boon, [saying]: / "Whatever desire each one wishes, that indeed I grant to him."

Hearing this speech of his, the guardians of the worlds, intent on the welfare of the world, / prayed to the boon-granting god for an unexcelled boon.

Kubera said: / "If you are pleased, O Mahādeva, and if a boon is to be given to me, / may I become the lord of the yakṣas and the bestower of wealth!"

Then Yama, devoted to restraint, said to the lord of the gods: / "May I become the venerable chief among all creatures there!"

Next Varuṇa spoke, having bowed down to Maheśvara: / "May I sport in the realm of Varuṇa, accompanied by the host of aquatic creatures!"

Then Vāyu quickly spoke, having bowed down to Maheśvara; / he prayed for all-pervasiveness in the three worlds, O descendant of Bharata.

Having granted to all the guardians of the worlds their desired wish, / Śaṅkara, along with Umā, disappeared from sight.

When the divine Maheśvara had departed, they remained in their respective places, / and an installation was made by all of them, separately under their own names:

Kubera [installed] Kubereśa, Yama [installed] Yameśvara, / Varuṇa [installed] Varuṇeśa, and Vāyu [installed] Vāteśvara, O king.

They all performed libations with various auspicious mantras, / after worshipping the god, the lord of all, according to the prescribed rules.

Like lords of all, they summoned those brahmins / who were patient, self-controlled, who had conquered anger, and who granted fearlessness to all beings,

who had completed their ritual ablutions after Vedic learning and observances, who were skilled in all scriptures, / endowed with the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Vedas, and adorned with the Atharvaveda.

"We shall give a fourfold gift to all of you; accept it!" / Having spoken thus, [and giving] an excellent gift to all the brahmins,

they gave them at that place the supreme gift of land: / "As long as the moon and the sun endure, as long as the earth stands,

so long is this gift yours; let no one oppose it, / whether a king or one equal to a king. If an unexcelled [gift]

given by the guardians of the worlds is revoked by a fool, hear the fate that awaits him: / The bestower of wealth shall dry up the wealth of that sinner, O descendant of Bharata;

the divine Varuṇa [shall dry up] his body; wind [shall dry up] his progeny; / and the great Yama, the restrainer, shall swiftly carry away his lifespan.

The fire-consumer goes away, O descendant of Bharata, having reduced it completely to ashes. / Therefore, with every effort, devotion must be shown to the brahmins, O Yudhiṣṭhira, / by all kings who desire their own welfare.

A king is a tree; the brahmins are its roots; servants are the leaves, and ministers are its branches. / Therefore, the root must be protected with effort; when the root is protected, there is no destruction of the tree.

The giver of land dwells in heaven for sixty thousand years; / both the one who confiscates it and the one who disparages it shall dwell in hell for just as many.

The earth, whether given by oneself or given by another, must be protected; / whosoever possesses the land at any time, his is the fruit at that time.

Whichever kings, remembering the command of the gods, O king, / will constantly protect it, their dwelling shall be in heaven.

Whether given by oneself or given by another, O Yudhiṣṭhira, the earth / must always be protected with care by kings; protecting [a gift] is superior to giving.

Lifespan, fame, strength, wealth, and imperishable offspring, O king, / shall surely belong to those who are devoted to protecting their subjects.

Having spoken thus to all those excellent brahmins, the guardians of the worlds, / having worshipped them according to the rules and bowed down, dismissed them.

When the foremost brahmins had departed, the guardians of the worlds, having bathed and made offerings into the sacred fire, / afflicted with hunger, wandered about seeking alms for themselves.

With limbs reduced to mere skin and bone, holding skull-bowls up in their hands, / not obtaining even a fraction of a morsel, they went outside the city.

Then, having in anger uttered a curse upon the brahmins, O Yudhiṣṭhira: / "May they always be poor and foolish!", they went to their abodes.

From that time forward, all those brahmins became devoid of wealth; / through the fault of the curse, they became vessels of sorrow in Kauberī.

"The sons shall not enjoy ancestral wealth, nor the father that of sons and grandsons, / at any time": thus indeed spoke Śaṃkara. 38 ..

The man who, having bathed at Kubereśa, worships Śiva / with perfumes, incense, and obeisances, obtains the fruit of an horse sacrifice. 39 ..

He who, having bathed at Yamatīrtha, beholds Yameśvara, / is freed from all sins acquired over seven previous births. 40 ..

Having bathed on a full-moon or new-moon day and offered libations to the ancestors, / whoever performs an ablution with sesame seeds—hear the fruit of his merit: 41 ..

Thoroughly satisfied with that water, the fathers, grandfathers, / and great-grandfathers, dwelling in heaven, sport for twelve years. 42 ..

A man who bathes at Varuṇeśa and worships Maheśvara / attains the abundant fruit of a Vājapeya sacrifice. 43 ..

Dying after a long time, to the world where the Lord of the Waters dwells, / he goes there in an aerial chariot, sung to by hosts of apsarases. 44 ..

A man who bathes at Vāteśvara and worships Maheśvara / has accomplished his purpose, beholding the world-protectors. 45 ..

What need has he of many sacrifices, or gifts with abundant sacrificial fees? / By bathing in these four [places] in the world, the fruit of his birth is attained. 46 ..

Blessed are they, great-souled are they, well-lived is their birth, / who dwell constantly at Kaurilī, having invoked the world-protectors. 47 ..

This is meritorious, sin-destroying, auspicious, and lifespan-increasing. / For those who recite it and listen to it, destruction of all sins shall occur. 48 ..

Thus ends the one hundred and thirty-third chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of the Four Sacred Fords Beginning with Kubera', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [part], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.