Skandapurana 4.51.4.6

4.51.4.6

stands there even today, to the north of Ādikeśava. / Therefore, that Keśavāditya dispels the darkness of his devotees in Kāśī; / when worshipped, may he ever bestow the desired fruit of the mind. / Having worshipped Keśavāditya in Vārāṇasī, the best of men / attains supreme knowledge by which he becomes a sharer of liberation. / Performing all the rites with water there at the Pādodaka tīrtha, / upon gazing at Keśavāditya, one is freed from the sins of birth. / O Agastya, when Sunday occurs on the Rathasaptamī, / then at the Pādodaka tīrtha in the presence of Ādikeśava, / a man who bathes at dawn, silent, from the worship of Keśavāditya, / is freed in that very moment from sin accumulated over seven lifetimes: / "Whatever sin has been committed by me across seven lifetimes, / may this Saptamī of the month of Māgha destroy that along with my disease and sorrow! / Whatever sin has been committed in this lifetime, and whatever has been gathered in other lifetimes, / born of mind, speech, and body, and what is known and what is unknown— / thus this sevenfold sin of mine, O deity of the seven steeds, / together with the seven diseases, through my bath, destroy, O Saptamī of the month of Māgha!" / Having chanted this triad of mantras, having bathed at Pādodaka, / a person, having looked upon Keśavāditya, instantly becomes free of impurity. / Hearing the māhātmya of Keśavāditya endowed with faith, / a man is not tainted by sins, and he obtains devotion to Śiva. / Skanda said: / After this, hear, O sage, of the excellent Vimalāditya, / situated in Vārāṇasī in the charming forest of Harikeśa. / In the northern region, there was formerly an arm-born [kṣatriya] named Vimala; / though standing on a pure path, by the influence of past karma, / severely afflicted with leprosy, having abandoned wives, home, and wealth, / having arrived in Vārāṇasī, the wise man worshipped the sun. / With karavīra, hibiscus, gaṃdhaka, and auspicious kiṃśuka flowers, / and with red water-lilies and aśoka flowers, he worshipped the sun;