Skandapurana 6.3.186

Chapter 186
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then, O protector of the earth, one should go to the excellent sacred ford of Kanakhala, / where Garuḍa performed austerity after worshiping Maheśvara.

For a hundred divine years, as soon as he was born, O descendant of Bharata, / he grew emaciated through austerities and prayers, and was seen by the god Śambhu.

Then Mahādeva, pleased, spoke supreme words to the son of Vinatā, / swift as thought, increasing the joy of Vinatā:

"I am pleased with you, O fortunate one of good vows; choose a boon. / I grant you, O sky-wanderer, what is difficult to attain in the three worlds."

Garuḍa said:
"I desire to become the mount of Viṣṇu and king of the birds, O Lord of the gods! / If you are pleased with me, my wish is that all this should be mine."

Śrī Maheśa said:
"Difficult for living beings to attain, dear child, is the boon you have requested, O sinless one: / to be the mount of the God of gods, and kingship over birds, is exceedingly hard to attain.

The entire three worlds, moving and unmoving, are within the belly of Nārāyaṇa. / How could he, the God of gods and teacher of the universe, be borne by you?

And Indra was established by him alone over the three worlds, moving and unmoving; / how then can kingship belong to another? It is exceedingly difficult to obtain.

Nevertheless, by my word, you shall become the mount / of him who bears the conch, discus, and mace, even though he bears the three worlds.

You shall become the sovereign among the birds; of this there is no doubt." / Having granted this boon to him, Hara vanished.

Then, after Mahādeva had departed, the younger brother of Aruṇa, O king, / propitiated Cāmuṇḍā, adorned with severed heads,

the goddess dwelling in the cremation ground, accompanied by numerous spirits, / a yoginī accomplished in yoga, fond of fat, flesh, and liquor.

Merely upon being meditated upon by him, she became visible right then. / Whatever spiritual perfection is found in Jālandhara, in the Kaulīna, and in the supreme Uḍḍiśa,

all of that resides in the sacred field of Bhṛgu, in the field of the accomplished; / Cāmuṇḍā, that goddess, resides there in the field of the accomplished,

praised by seers and gods for the accomplishment of security and prosperity. / There, O king, the son who gladdens Vinatā pleased that yoginī with devotion / through Vedic and worldly hymns.

Garuḍa said:
"Om. May she whose throat is emaciated with hunger, whose mouth drips fresh blood, who sits upon a lotus seat of corpses, / who sports in her cremation-ground abode surrounded by hosts of spirits, holding a trident in her hand; / whose upper garment is a garland of heads dripping blood from hosts of mighty heroes struck down by weapons—the goddess Śrīvīramātā, resembling the spotless moon, Carmamuṇḍā—protect you all!"

May she whose throat is emaciated with hunger, who creates terrible dread, who terrifies the doers of evil, who eats corpse-flesh with ladle-like teeth amidst clusters of shooting flames; / she who, Mother of Spirits, leaps violently with arm-staffs terrifying with ḍamaru drums ringing loudly and resonant bells, and with sharp kettledrums beaten by the calamitous winds of the cosmic dissolution; / she whose throat is emaciated with hunger, whose belly is withered, who crushes corpse-flesh along with foremost men possessing exceptional weapons, uttering a loud horse-laugh with a roaring sound—may Carmamuṇḍā protect you! 186.17

May she whose belly appears sunken, who terrifies with dread of deformed existence, spear in hand, Cāmuṇḍā, striking with skulls, delightful with the ringing sound of clashing cymbals in battle; / who terrifies the three worlds with multiple terrible cries of ‘kakahakahaka’, dancing among the Mothers, dwelling in the cremation ground—may Carmamuṇḍā protect you! 186.18

May Kanakeśvarī, who sustains this entire universe by a portion of herself, immensely radiant, / resting upon a golden blossom, protect me! 186.19

May Kanakeśvarī, the goddess born of the Snow Mountain, whose bodily form was manifested out of compassion, / beloved of Śiva, attached to Śiva, protect me! 186.20

May Kanakeśvarī, who is the beginning of the beginningless universe, who holds gems within her womb, dear to the Vasus, / Padmā along with the wielder of the discus, protect me! 186.21

May Kanakeśvarī, who is Sāvitrī, Gāyatrī, Mṛḍānī, speech, and Indira, / who grants happiness to those who remember her, protect me! 186.22

May Kanakeśvarī, who constantly creates and protects the world through gentle and ungentle forms, / the supreme energy, the supreme intellect, protect me! 186.23

May Kanakeśvarī, who is the supreme creative energy of Brahmā at the time of creation, / the cosmic illusion, the supporter of the world, protect me! 186.24

May Kanakeśvarī, who is the protective energy of Viṣṇu in the preservation of the universe, / the foremost intoxicator through passion, protect me! 186.25

May Kanakeśvarī, the foremost energy relied upon by Rudra in the dissolution of the universe, / the fierce power, Śivā, infinite, protect me! 186.26

May Kanakeśvarī, who reposes on the golden blossom grown on the ridge of Kailāsa, / who was carried away formerly by Bhasmaka, protect me! 186.27

May Kanakeśvarī, who desires the glory of her husband, who trembles without her husband, / being a delicate woman of one-pointed devotion, protect me! 186.28

May Kanakeśvarī, who is devoted to the protection of the universe, who is protected by the golden one, / the mother of all from Brahmā down to a clump of grass, protect me! 186.29

May Kanakeśvarī, the primal energy by whose power Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Īśvara / were brought to assume bodily form, protect me! 186.30

Having heard the four verses of the goddess spoken by Garuḍa, / she became pleased, turned towards him, and spoke this speech: 186.31

The glorious Cāmuṇḍā said: / ‘I am pleased with you, O great-spirited one! Choose a desired boon; / I grant to you, O best of the twice-born, whatever pleases your mind.’ 186.32

Garuḍa said: / ‘May I become free from old age, immortal, invincible to gods and asuras, / and unconquerable by any others, by your grace! 186.33

And you must always remain here, O goddess, in the vicinity of the sacred ford. / Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Having said, "So it shall be," the goddess, praised by the gods,

entered the sky and departed accompanied by the host of spirits. / When, O best of kings, that excellent city had been established by Lakṣmī, 186.35

assenting to the goddess, what was done was entrusted to her. / Lakṣmī said: / For protection by me, O goddess, and for the attainment of security and prosperity...

my city must always be looked after like a mother, O goddess!’ / Thereupon Garuḍa too bathed, worshipped Kanakeśvarī, 186.37

established the sacred ford right there, and went to the highest heaven. / One who bathes at that sacred ford and worships the ancestors and deities 186.38

enjoys the fruit of a sacrifice endowed with all desired objects. / And whoever worships Kanakeśvara with fragrant pastes, flowers, and the like, 186.39

his attainment of yogic power arises in the seats of yoga. / When dead, he goes, accompanied by the host of yoginīs, / to the realm of the Lord of Yoga with auspicious cries of ‘victory’ and so forth; there is no doubt of this. 186.40

Thus ends the one hundred and eighty-sixth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Kanakhaleśvaratīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [part], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses, the glorious Skandapurāṇa.