Skandapurana 6.3.232

Sūta said: / Thus has been told to you, O brahmins, the supreme Revāmāhātmya, / just as it was taught to the son of Pṛthā by Mārkaṇḍeya in ancient times.

Likewise the assemblages of sacred fords, and the distinct sacred fords among them, / have been declared by me in order of importance, by number and in succession.

This is incomparable and purifying, indeed this is the supreme remover of sin: / the holy exploits of the Narmadā, the māhātmya spoken by the sage.

The wise brahmin, the son of Mṛkaṇḍu, best among knowers of the ultimate truth, / who has survived through seven cosmic ages, [dwelling] on the Narmadā, O lords of sages,

having served all sacred fords and all rivers in ancient times, / perceiving the Revā, born from Śiva's body, which remembers many cosmic ages,

took refuge with her who was born from Śarva, declared by Śarva as 'She is my portion', / the goddess unaging, immortal, the destroyer of demons, the supreme,

endowed with great majesty, the destroyer of worldly existence, the river Gaṅgā born from Śiva; / having formed true love for her, he too became unaging and immortal.

Sixty thousand and six hundred million sacred fords, O best of men, / are established at every step along the two banks of the Revā.

There are thousands of rivers all around possessing sacred fords; / yet none of them equals the Revā, I believe, O lords of sages.

All this has been told to you, all that was asked, O brahmins, / which Vāyu, having heard from the mouth of Maheśa, spoke to the seers.

Just so the son of Mṛkaṇḍu, having experienced the entire river / along with its sacred fords step by step, proclaimed the purifier to the son of Pāṇḍu.

And all this has been declared in brief, O best of brahmins, / the holy exploits of the Narmadā, difficult to attain in the three worlds.

What need of the waters of other rivers, though visited in thousands, / if the sin-destroying water of the Revā is resorted to?

One who resorts to the waters of the daughter of the Mekala mountain attains everlasting liberation.

In whatever manner a mortal worships, whatever a pilgrim desires, / that indeed he unfailingly obtains, whether with faith or even without faith.

This is Brahmā, this is Hari, this is visibly the supreme Hara; / this water of the Narmadā is the formless Brahman, absolute liberation.

Sacred fords and rivers granting the heart's fruit roar [in pride] only so long / as men in the Kali age do not remember the Revā with the desire to worship her.

Surely, for the welfare of the world, Śiva brought down from his own body / an extraordinary power in the form of a river, which is this Revā.

Sacrifices, sacred forests, fields, and the like roar mightily only so long / as the chanting of the name of the Narmadā is not performed in the Kali age.

Greatness is counted among austerities, gifts, vows, and the like, / or is attained by men, only until the river born of Bharga is reached on earth.

Those who dwell on the northern bank are indeed followers of Rudra; / those who dwell on the southern bank go to the world of Viṣṇu.

Blessed are those, excellent are those regions, in which countries the Narmadā— / the constant destroyer of hell, created by Śarva—is situated.

And those people have accumulated merit, they do not suffer grief, / who drink the holy water sprung from the river born of Pārvatī's lord.

Whoever listens to or recounts this matchless, purifying / narrative of the Revā, O brahmins, is freed from all sins.

Whatever fruit is gained from all the Vedas with the six auxiliary limbs, the pada and krama recitations, / when heard and recited—eight times that fruit is attained from this.

And whatever fruit a sacrificer of a twelve-year sacrificial session attains, / having heard the narrative of the Revā just once, he shall obtain that fruit.

And whatever fruit comes from bathing in all sacred fords, in oceans and other waters, / by hearing the māhātmya of the Revā just once, one obtains that fruit.

This righteous narrative is supreme among all scriptures. / In a region, or in a district, or in a city, or within a village,

or in whose house it stays written down, suitable for all castes, / he is Brahmā, he is Śiva in person, and he is the god Janārdana.

On the path of righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and liberation, this is attended by the gods; / a teacher of teachers, a scripture that is the supreme cause of accomplishment.

And whoever hears daily this Purāṇa spoken by the gods, / if a brahmin, he becomes learned in the Vedas; if a kṣatriya, he becomes victorious;

a vaiśya becomes wealthy; a śūdra indeed comes to share in virtue.

Having heard this, a woman attains good fortune and lineage, / prosperity, happiness, dwelling in heaven, and birth in an excellent family.

One who adulterates liquids, an ungrateful person, an enemy of one's master, a deceiver of friends, / a cow-killer, a poisoner, and a seller of daughters,

a killer of a brahmin, a drinker of liquor, a thief, and a violator of the guru's bed— / one who, hearing the narrative of the Narmadā, attends upon her for a year,

becomes liberated from all sins; there is no doubt about this. / One who cooks separate food [from others], one who cooks in vain, one who reviles gods and brahmins,

one who slanders the guru, parents, virtuous men, or a king— / they too, having heard [it], are freed from sins; there is no doubt about this.

Moreover, those purified souls who daily listen to the scripture / and worship that scripture about the Narmadā with garments and ornaments,

with flowers, fruits, sandal paste and the like, and also with various foods— / when this scripture is worshipped, the gods are worshipped, and likewise the gurus,

in this world and in the next; no doubt need be entertained here. / Therefore, with every effort, using perfumes, garments, ornaments, and the like,

one should worship the reciter and the scripture itself with supreme devotion. / Whatever merit [is gained] by recitations of the Veda and by maintained agnihotra rites,

that fruit one attains through the auspicious narrative of the Narmadā. / Whatever merit [is gained] at Kurukṣetra, and at Prabhāsa, and at Puṣkara,

and at Rudrāvarta, at Gayā, and especially at Vārāṇasī, / at Gaṅgādvāra, at Prayāga, and at the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the ocean—

whatever merit arises for men in such sacred fords, / having heard the narrative of the Narmadā, one obtains all of that merit.

The man who with devotion hears the auspicious narrative of the Narmadā / in its beginning, middle, and end—hear its great fruit:

having reached the abode of Śiva, surrounded by celestial maidens, / having become an attendant of Rudra, he rejoices with Śiva.

This righteous, meritorious account is unsurpassed among all accounts. / In whose house it is read, O best among the four castes,

blessed I consider that house, the householder, and his family. / But one who worships the manuscript of the narrative of the Narmadā,

by him the Narmadā is worshipped, and Lord Maheśvara. / In the same way, when the reciter is worshipped, the gods and seers are worshipped.

Having caused the entire excellent narrative of the Revā to be written down, / the ornament of all scriptures, whoever gives it to a twice-born,

whatever fruit comes from bathing and giving at all the sacred fords of the Narmadā, / that fruit that man attains; there is no doubt about this.

This Purāṇa spoken by Rudra grants the fruit of great merit; / it gives heaven, gives sons, brings fortune, brings fame, and increases renown.

It conforms to dharma, grants peerless longevity, destroys sorrow and bad dreams; / and for those who read it and hear it, it grants the attainment of all desires and purposes.

When this holy Purāṇa, having been given, is recited by brahmins, / his stay in the world of Śiva lasts for as many years as there are syllables in the Purāṇa.

Thus this supreme account of the Narmadā, spoken by the Wind having received it from the mouth of Śarva, / which is revered by the people of the three worlds, was well proclaimed at first in front of the head of the sages' clan by the foremost Sūta.

Thus ends the two hundred and thirty-second chapter, named 'Description of the Conclusion of the Revākhaṇḍa and the Māhātmya of Donating the Manuscript of the Revākhaṇḍa', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth Āvantyakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.