Skandapurana 6.3.93

Chapter 93

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, O best of kings, one should go to the excellent Kalhoḍītīrtha, / famed in the world of Bhārata, which destroys the sin of Gaṅgā,

difficult to be reached by men, O Pārtha, situated on the bank of the Revā, / for the destruction of the sins of living beings, just like the saline soil or Puṣkara.

"That is this sacred ford," such was the word of Śiva. / The river Gaṅgā came there in the form of an animal for the sake of bathing;

therefore, it is renowned in the world as the excellent Kalhoḍītīrtha. / One should observe a fast of three nights there on the full moon, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

Passion, darkness, anger, hypocrisy, and malice— / whoever abandons these, O Pārtha, by him the fruit born of liberation is attained.

One should bathe the god with milk at the three junctures of the day, and thus for three days— / fresh milk obtained from a cow that has her calf and whose offspring is alive.

Placing it in a copper vessel mixed with honey, / one should bathe the god with the mantra: 'Om, salutations to Śrī Śiva!'

He goes to the abode of the gods, surrounded by celestial women, / who, having bathed there according to rule, gives gifts on behalf of the deceased.

One should give a white cow there, saying, 'May my ancestors be pleased,' / to a brahmin endowed with purity and always devoted to his own wife,

a cow with her calf, adorned with cloth, standing upon gold. / Giving it with pure intent, O king, he attains the world of Śambhu.

Thus ends the ninety-third chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Kalhoḍītīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.