Skandapurana 6.3.3

Chapter 3

Yudhiṣṭhira said:
'The terrible destructions of seven kalpas were seen by you, O great sage,
and here, O venerable one, no one possesses such long life. 3.1

For sleeping in the single ocean, Padmanābha, the slayer of the foes of the gods,
was seen by you, having a thousand feet and a thousand eyes and bellies. 3.2

Indeed, by his grace, when the moving and unmoving universe was burning,
you did not undergo destruction, because of the granting of a boon by the great-souled one. 3.3

What wonderful thing was seen by you, O sinless one, while wandering?
Tell this, O venerable one, for great is my curiosity. 3.4

When the exceedingly terrible destruction at the end of the yuga arrived,
the world having been struck by drought formerly for more than a hundred years...' 3.5

When medicinal plants were terribly destroyed, when gods and Dānavas were gone, / devoid of vitality, devoid of the vaṣaṭ-call, utterly corrupted by Kali,

when rivers, lakes, ponds, pools, and groves / were completely dried up, O brāhmaṇa, during that formless destruction of the age,

when brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and others, / and the great-souled seers endowed with divine radiance reached Janaloka from Maharloka,

which beings remained, and which truly perished, O great sage? / Tell all of this separately, O fortunate one!

Which beings, O best of vipras, and how would they attain perfection / when the dread time comes for Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, and the Rudras?

Thus addressed by the wise Dharmarāja, / Mārkaṇḍeya, surrounded by multitudes of seers, replied then as follows:

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / May all the seers hear along with you, O lord of men, / the great Purāṇa formerly spoken by Śambhu to the deity Vāyu.

From Vāyu, this ancient text was heard by Skanda; / Vasiṣṭha heard it from him, and Parāśara after that.

And from him by Jātūkarṇya, and from him by the great seers; / thus it was spoken in unbroken succession by hundreds of best twice-born.

A compilation of one hundred thousand verses was spoken of old by Śambhu, / having churned all scriptures to explain the truth in ancient times.

Afterwards it was arranged fourfold according to the ages / by the great seers, according to the diminished intellect of men.

Having formerly worshipped the Lord of beasts, Maheśvara, / I heard this Purāṇa; I shall relate it to you completely,

hearing which a living being is freed from all sins, O lord of men, / mental and born of action, accumulated over seven births.

Seven dreadful dissolutions of kalpas have been seen by me again and again / through the grace of the god of gods, Viṣṇu the Supreme Lord.

When the world was burnt by the twelve suns and turned into a single vast ocean, / I wandered there, exhausted, crossing the ocean with my arms.

Then in the water, O king, I saw of old a Man / who resembled the sun, the beginningless and endless Lord,

and the peak of the king of mountains illuminating the ten directions. / A second one, Manu, was seen accompanied by sons and grandsons.

He too wandered in that unfathomable great ocean that had become darkness, / never resting even for a moment, spinning as if mounted on a wheel.

Then, trembling with fear, crossing the ocean with my arms, / staying there, I saw a great fish filled with vigor.

Then, seeing me, he said, “Come, come!” O Bhārata; / he was Maheśvara in the form of a fish, the supreme head of all.

Then I went quickly into his mouth, O lord of men, / thoroughly exhausted, bereft of consciousness, fallen into utter despondency.

Then at the edge of the ocean I saw a river filled with great whirlpools, / its waters surging in waves, laughing aloud with masses of foam,

holy, going wherever she pleased, swarming with huge fish and small fish; / and staying in the middle of that river was a woman who could take any form at will,

dark like a blue lotus petal, carrying a great agitation, / her limbs adorned with divine gold, radiant with bright gold.

Grasping a great boat between her two knees, she stood firm. / Manu addressed her with these words: “Who are you, divine and excellent woman?

For what purpose do you stand here, O celestial beauty? / When the host of gods and demons has perished, you wander playfully on the ocean.

Rivers, oceans, and mountains have perished many times over. / But how do you stand alone, O virtuous lady? There must be a great reason. / I wish to hear it, O goddess; tell it completely!”

The woman said: / “Born from the body of Īśvara, celebrated indeed by the name Amṛtā, / I am a holy river destroying sins; having taken refuge in me, whence fear?

Taking this boat, I have come for you, O twice-born. / For there is no destruction of this boat wherein Śaṃkara abides.”

Hearing her words, his eyes wide with wonder, / along with Manu I then boarded the boat, O royal sage.

Joining my palms in reverence, bowing my head to the all-pervading Lord, / the Supreme Ruler who grants fearlessness, I praised him:

“Homage to the god Sadyojāta, to Vāmadeva indeed homage! / Homage to you in every existence, homage to you who are attained through devotion!

Homage to you, earth and atmosphere, homage to the elder brother of Rāma! / Homage to you, Bhadrakāla, homage to the embodiment of Kali!

To the abode who is Mahādeva, of inconceivable and unmanifest form, / we know the god of gods; homage, homage to you, Rudra!

Homage, homage to the cause of the creation and destruction of the universe!” / When Mahādeva was thus praised of old by me, the created one, O sinless one,

pleased, he then said to me: “Choose a boon, O you of noble vows!”

Thus ends the third chapter, named ‘Description of Mārkaṇḍeya's Boarding the Boat at the Dissolution of the Kalpa,’ in the conversation between Mārkaṇḍeya and Dharmarāja, in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the Narmadāmāhātmya, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.