Skandapurana 6.3.76

Chapter 76

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should go, O best of kings, to the unsurpassed Pāreśvara.
The great-souled Parāśara, indeed, on the auspicious bank of the Narmadā,

performed extensive austerity for the sake of a son, O son of Pāṇḍu.
By him the daughter of Himavat, Gaurī, Nārāyaṇī, O king,

was propitiated with supreme devotion on the northern bank of the Narmadā.
The great goddess, who holds half the body of Śaṅkara, was pleased with him [and said]:

'Hail, O best, most excellent of seers! I am pleased with your devotion.
Ask a boon of me, O brahmin, O noble-minded Parāśara!'

Parāśara said:
'If you are well pleased with me, O goddess, if a boon is to be granted to me,
give me a son, O blessed lady, endowed with the virtues of truth and purity,

devoted to the study of the Vedas, and proficient in all the sacred scriptures.
And may there be, O goddess, your presence in this sacred ford by this excellent boon.

For the sake of helping the world, remain here, O daughter of the mountain,
under the name of Parāśara, on the southern bank of the Narmadā.'

The goddess said:
'So be it for you, O brahmin.' Right there she disappeared.
The great-souled Parāśara then established Pārvatī.

He established Śaṅkara, worshipped by gods and asuras,
indivisible, inconceivable, and difficult of access even to the gods.

The great-souled Parāśara achieved his purpose, O king.

At that sacred ford, whoever with devotion, pure and restrained in mind,
whether a woman or a man, free from desire and anger,

in Māgha, Caitra, or Vaiśākha, in Śrāvaṇa, O prince,
and in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, during the bright fortnight at all times,

having gone to that auspicious place on the southern bank of the Narmadā,

having fasted with supreme devotion, performs this observance,
keeping vigil at night and giving lamps according to one's capacity,

[with] song, dance, and instrumental music, free from desire and anger;
when clear dawn arrives, the twice-born should be honored according to one's capacity.

Having honored the brahmins, O son of Pṛthā, with gifts of wealth and gold,
with clothing, the gift of umbrellas, beds, betel, and meals,

one should gratify on the bank of the Narmadā the brahmins of commendable vows.
A śrāddha should be performed, O best of kings, with raw food, cooked food, and water.

For women and for śūdras, an āmaśrāddha is praised;
raw food should be given fourfold to the brahmins, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

According to the rite taught in the Veda, the twice-born are to be honored with care,
with kuśa grass a cubit long, with sesame seeds, and with unbroken rice, O king.

The brahmins should be seated facing north, and oneself facing south.
One should place the food upon the darbha grass, uttering this before the twice-born:

'May the departed spirits go to the higher world by the power of this sacred ford!
May my sin be pacified; may auspiciousness always increase!

May my lineage and kinsmen always flourish, O best of the twice-born!'
Having uttered this, a gift should be given to the brahmin according to one's capacity.

Cows, land, gold and the like, food and clothing, according to one's capacity,
should be given, O best of Pāṇḍavas, at the excellent hermitage of Pāreśvara.

Those who listen with supreme devotion are freed from all sins.

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