Skandapurana 6.3.62

Chapter 62

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, O king of kings, to the excellent Karoḍīśvara, / where the Dānavas along with their followers were slain, dear friend,

by the gods led by Indra, overjoyed and ever minded toward victory. / Remembering their ancestral enmity, the sons and grandsons of those [Dānavas]

were slain in battle by the enraged hosts of gods. / Taking up their heads, all the gods along with Indra,

cast them into the water of the Narmadā, remembering their kinship. / Having bathed there, all the gods, having established the lord of Umā,

along with Indra, worshipped him for the welfare of the world. / With delighted minds, all the gods went to the circle of the sky.

A full crore of Dānavas, O fortunate one, was exterminated; / from then on, that sacred ford is known on the earth as Karoḍī.

It became famous in the world, O son of Pāṇḍu, as destroying sin. / On the eighth and the fourteenth days of both fortnights, with devotion, / having fasted before the Trident-bearer, one should keep vigil at night, 62.7

engaged in reciting sacred tales and reciting the Veda. / When the spotless dawn arrives, one should worship the Lord of the thirty [gods]. 62.8

Having bathed [him] with the five nectars, one should smear [him] with sandalwood paste, / and diligently worship [him] with auspicious shoots and flowers. 62.9

Facing the southern direction and chanting the Bahurūpa mantra, / according to the prescribed rite, standing in navel-deep water, one should cast 62.10

a handful of water with sesame seeds for the departed spirit, facing the southern quarter. / With subdued senses, one should perform a śrāddha right there for the brahmin, 62.11

with an odd number of firstborn [brahmins] devoted to the study of the Veda. / Having honored them with cows and gold, with betel leaves and meals, 62.12

with ornaments and sandals, O son of Pāṇḍu—those brahmins— / for him it will be multiplied ten million times; there should be no doubt about this. 62.13

Whoever abandons their body at that sacred ford in accordance with the injunctions, / hear the merit that accrues to him, O lord of men: 62.14

As long as a mortal's bones remain in the water of the Narmadā, / so long does the righteous person dwell in Śiva's world, which is so difficult to attain. 62.15

Falling from there when the time comes, having attained human birth here, / he is born wealthy, master of ten million fortunes, and honored by kings. 62.16

Endowed with all virtues, wise, possessing good offspring, / renowned on the face of the earth, he becomes a long-lived man. 62.17

He remembers that sacred ford again, and going there, O best of kings, / having worshipped Karoḍeśvara, he attains the supreme state. 62.18

By Indra, Candra, Yama, the Rudras, the Ādityas, and the Vasus, / and by all the Viśvedevas, the Lord of the thirty [gods] was established 62.19

on the northern bank of the Revā, desiring the welfare of the worlds. / A mortal endowed with devotion who builds a temple 62.20

at that sacred ford, O best of men, attains a good destination. / With wealth obtained by righteous means, using wood, stones, and bricks, 62.21

by a brahmin, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, and women according to their ability— / those men also go to the world of Śaṅkara, worshipped by the gods. 62.22

Whoever always hears with devotion the māhātmya originating from that sacred ford, O king, / his sin that has accumulated within six months is destroyed. 62.23

Thus ends the sixty-second chapter, titled "Description of the Māhātmya of the Karoḍīśvara Sacred Ford," in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.