Skandapurana 6.3.73

Chapter 73

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / On the bank and shore of Kāśī-Gaṅgā, there is an exceedingly beautiful sacred ford, / destroying all sin, O son of Pṛthā, the supreme Goprekṣeśvara, / where a holy liṅga emerged from the body of a cow upon the earth, O king.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / Why did the liṅga that destroys sins emerge from the cow's body, / on the bank and shore of Kāśī-Gaṅgā near Maṇināga? / Tell me in brief, O brahmin, the origin of Goprekṣeśvara.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Long ago the wish-fulfilling cow Kāmadhenu performed austerity there, O son of Pṛthā; / she meditated with supreme devotion on the god of gods, Maheśvara.

Pleased with that brown cow, Maheśvara, the Lord of the universe, / the indivisible Supreme Lord, emerged from the middle of her body.

[He said:] 'I am pleased, O goddess, mother of the universe, brown cow, supreme ruler! / State quickly the reason for which worship was performed, O lovely-faced one.'

Surabhi said: / 'For the benefit of the worlds I was created by the Supreme Lord; / all affairs of the worlds are accomplished by my grace.

Creatures will go to heaven by my grace, O Śaṅkara. / Dwell in my sacred ford, O Śambhu, out of a desire for the welfare of the worlds.'

Having said, 'So be it,' the Lord resided in that sacred ford with joy. / From that time forward, that sacred ford became renowned upon the earth; / by a single bath, O king of kings, it dispels the mass of sins.

Whoever performs the gift of a cow at Goprekṣeśvara with devotion— / a suitable cow, accompanied by gold, should be given to a worthy best of the twice-born,

with a calf, young, white, with abundant milk, clothed with a garment; / one should give it on the fourteenth or the eighth day of the dark fortnight,

and in all months, especially in Kārttika; / with supreme devotion one should give it to a twice-born devoted to Vedic recitation.

Both the one who gives according to the rule and the one who accepts according to the rule / are actors of holy deeds, and the bystander is a recipient of merit.

Whoever, endowed with devotion, performs the offering of rice-balls for the ancestors— / by a single rice-ball, O king of kings, the spirits of the dead go to the supreme state.

Those who daily make obeisance to Rudra with devotion— / their sin dissolves away like water in a cracked vessel.

He who sets loose a bull at that sacred ford, O king— / his ancestors are rescued by him, and he is glorified in the world of Śiva.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / When the release of a bull is performed, dear one, whatever fruit arises for men, / tell me all that quickly with diligence, O best of the twice-born.

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Whatever fruit [accrues] when a bull endowed with all auspicious marks [is set free],
that I shall fully declare; listen, O son of Dharma.

In Kārttika and Vaiśākha, on the full moon day, O king,
having come into the presence of Rudra, pure, bathed, and with senses subdued,

one should cause the release of a bull, [saying,] 'May Hara be pleased.'
In [his] presence, O son, one should present four auspicious heifer calves.

Having given [them], endowed with all auspicious marks, to an eminent brahmin,
[one should pray,] 'May Mahādeva, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara be pleased.'

As many hairs as there are on all limbs of the bull, O king,
for that many years he is honored in the world of Śiva.

Having dwelt in the world of Śiva, when he is born among mortals,
his birth is in a great family, replete with wealth and grain.

Free from disease, handsome, rich in learning, speaking the truth, and pure.
The Goprekṣeśvara-māhātmya has thus been declared by me, O Yudhiṣṭhira;
the liṅga emerged from the body of a cow on the bank of the Gaṅgā in Kāśī.

Thus ends the seventy-third chapter, titled 'Description of the Goprekṣeśvara-māhātmya', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [part, the] Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].