Skandapurana 2.4.4.4.4

2.4.4.4.4

For the darśana of which even the Gaṅgā turned and flowed northwards. / In it is the tīrtha of Pañcanada, renowned in the three worlds. / When the month of Kārtika arrives, the ancestors who have gone to the Raurava hell / cry out: ‘In our lineage there will arise / someone, the foremost among the fortunate, who will go to auspicious Pañcanada / and perform an offering of water for us, delivering us from the ocean of hell!’ / When the month of Kārtika arrives, the King of Tīrthas and the other tīrthas / come to Pañcagaṅgā for ritual ablution; there is no doubt. / Even after committing a hundred thousand sins, by bathing at auspicious Pañcanada / and worshipping Bindumādhava, they instantly vanish. / For those who have bathed even once in auspicious Pañcanada during the month of Kārtika, / the fruit becomes ten million times that of bathing performed at all [other] tīrthas. / Brahmā said: / In the month of Kārtika, whoever desires to take a ritual ablution in the Kāverī, / by that alone is freed from sin and attains union with Viṣṇu. / Who could describe the supremely excellent māhātmya of the Kāverī? / In this regard, I shall narrate to you an ancient tale. / Listen with an attentive mind, O brahmin, regarding the Kāverī: / On the northern bank of the Gautamī is she who was born from the lotus-foot of Viṣṇu, / the Gaṅgā, destroyer of the sins of the three worlds, worshipped by the world. / Once, filled with misgivings about sin, that Gaṅgā reflected: / ‘All people come and cast their sin upon me; / but how will that sin go away?’ So, overcome with concern then, / she went to Kailāsa to ask Bhava, the beloved of the mountain’s daughter. / Beholding the great Rudra there, she who was born from Hari’s foot spoke: / Gaṅgā said: / O great Rudra, obeisance to you! I have come to ask you: / all people come and cast their sin upon me; / that sin cannot be endured by me, O husband of Pārvatī! / Tell me that means by which that sin may not come to me.