Narratives from the Skanda Purāṇa

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa tells how Pārvatī won Bhagavān Śiva by tapas as Aparṇā, passed his test as a vāṭu, and was married to him.

After Manmatha is burned, Pārvatī does four hundred years of tapas, Śiva tests her as a brahmacārī, and at her svayaṃvara she garlands his feet.

The owl Prākārakarṇa on Kailāsa was once the brahmin Ghaṇṭa, who won Śiva's vara by bilva leaves and fell by desire for a girl.

Two friends who gave up all dharma go to Purushottama Kshetra, fast for six days, see Jagannātha, and are freed.

King Puruyaśas keeps the Vaiśākha rules, sees Bhagavān Vishṇu on Garuḍa, and hears him name the day Akshaya Tṛtīyā.

Raghu, who had given away all his wealth, promises Kautsa his guru-dakshiṇā, and Kubera pours gold on Ayodhyā at Svarṇakhaṇi.

Bhagavān Rāma ends his earthly life at the Sarayū, and the people of Ayodhyā follow him to svarga and the world of Santānika.

A dancer keeps the Śivarātri vigil without knowing it, is reborn as the Gandharva princess Ratnāvalī, and meets her husband through Ratneśvara.

Rāvaṇa offers his ten heads to Bhagavān Śiva at Gokarṇa, receives great varas, is cursed by Nandī, and Bhagavān Vishṇu plans the Rāma avatāra.

A serpent leaves its body when it hears the Vaiśākha Māhātmya and is freed as Rochana, and a hunter is told he will be reborn as Vālmīki.

The devas and asuras churn the ocean of milk. Kālakūṭa poison rises, Bhagavān Śiva drinks it, amṛta appears, and Bhagavān Vishṇu restores Indra's rule.

Saṃvarta Muni hides in Vārāṇasī as a naked yogī, is found by a test with a corpse, and sends Indradyumna's party to the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama.

Saṃvarta Muni hides in Vārāṇasī as a naked yogī, is found by a test with a corpse, and sends Indradyumna's party to the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama.

King Śaṅkhu, a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu, does tapas at Veṅkaṭādri with Agastya and sees the viśvarūpa and the calm four-armed form.

Bhagavān Śiva cuts off Brahmā's fifth head, carries the skull everywhere, and is freed only at Badarīkāśrama, where Kapālamocana Tīrtha is named.

Parameśvara Śiva is adorned, goes in a great procession to Himavān's palace, and marries Pārvatī while the whole universe looks on.

Śiva and Pārvatī play dice on Kailāsa, quarrel over who won, part, and come together again when Pārvatī takes the form of a Śabarī huntress.

After Divodāsa leaves, Bhagavān Śiva comes back to Kāśī in his great chariot, is crowned by Brahmā, honours Bhagavān Vishṇu and merges into the Viśveśvara Liṅga.

Śiva builds Vārāṇasī for Pārvatī, the Sudarśana cakra burns it, and Bhagavān Vishṇu sends Bhagavān Śiva to Ekāmra beside Purushottama Kshetra.

A hunter named Caṇḍa, without knowing it, keeps Śivarātri at a Śiva Liṅga and is taken to Kailāsa; the chapter also tells of Duḥsaha and the tithis of the devas.

The brāhmaṇa Śivaśarman visits the seven moksha cities, then passes through every loka up to Satyaloka, where Brahmā praises Kāśī, and attains liberation.

Śrutadeva finds his father Maitra as a piśāca on the Narmadā, and frees him by keeping the Vaiśākha rites and giving the merit of anna-dāna.

Śuka asks Vyāsa how to purify his mind, is sent to Jaṭātīrtha at Setu Kshetra, and gains advaita-jñāna after one bath.

The wedding of Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa and Padmāvatī, daughter of Ākāśarāja, arranged by Vakulamālikā and conducted by Brahmā.

Stamba leaves his wife Kāntimatī for a courtesan; her gift of panaka to Devala in Vaiśākha leads, through a hunter's births, to Vālmīki.

The vidyādhara Sudarśana, cursed by Gālava to wander as a vetāla, is freed at Vetāla Varada Tīrtha in the Setu region.

Bhagavān Śiva burns Kāla with his third eye to save his devotee King Śveta Rāja, then revives him and sets new orders for Yama.

Tapoṇishṭha, a disciple of Durvāsa, left every Vishṇu-kathā and became the piśāca Cinnakarṇa; one muhūrta of Vaiśākha puṇya freed him.

After Tāraka defeats the devas, Bhagavān Vishṇu speaks to him about kāla (time), and Brahmā tells the devas that Śiva's child must slay Tāraka.

How the daitya Tārakāsura was born after a thousand years in the womb, did fierce tapas on Pāriyātra mountain, and won a vara from Brahmā.

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa's account of how Kārttikeya slew the asura Tāraka with his Śakti and gave the devas back their place in svarga.

The three devotees Vasu, Raṅgadāsa and King Toṇḍamānadu, and how Veṅkaṭādri was opened, planted and given its first prākāra around Śrīnivāsa's abode.

Kālindī tells Kṛshṇa's queens how to meet Uddhava, who then teaches the greatness of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata and reads it for a month at Vṛndāvana.

King Uparicara Vasu of Cedi, a great devotee of Bhagavān Vāsudeva, falls into the earth for a false judgment, is lifted out by Garuḍa and reaches Goloka.

Indra sends the apsarā Urvaśī to disturb the ṛshi Raibhya's tapas. He curses her, and she regains her beauty at a tīrtha in Ayodhyā, now called Urvaśīkuṇḍa.

After Yudhishṭhira's departure, Śāṇḍilya tells Vajranābha the secret of the empty Vraja, and Vajranābha and Parīkshit settle it again with villages and mūrtis.

Diti's son Vajrāṅga defeats Indra but frees him, asks Brahmā only for tapas, and agrees to give his wife Vārāṅgī a son after Indra torments her.

Bhagavān Vishṇu is born to Aditi as the dwarf Vāmana, asks Bali for three steps of land, grows as Trivikrama, and makes Bali the lord of Sutala.

The vasu Vidhūma and the apsarā Alambusā, cursed by Brahmā, are born as King Sahasrānīka and Queen Mṛgāvatī and freed with their son Udayana at Chakratīrtha.

The Vindhya mountain grows to block Sūrya, and Agastya leaves Kāśī for the south to bow him down, never to return.

King Virabāhu and Queen Kāntimātī are freed from pāpa across three lives by a kind act and the merit of an Ekādaśī vrata.

A king's son, left outside the city at birth, is blessed by the Nine Mothers in Kāśī and wins the Vīreśvara Liṅga from Bhagavān Śiva.

Bhagavān Vishṇu comes to Dharmāraṇya, and 18,000 brāhmaṇas of 24 gotras are set there, each guarded by a kula-devī yoginī.

After three years of tapas at Ayodhyā, the brāhmaṇa Vishṇu Śarmā sees Bhagavān Vishṇu, who creates Cakratīrtha and stays there as Vishṇuhari.

Tvashṭṛ's son makes promises he cannot keep, flees, and wins every craft from Bhagavān Śiva in Kāśī, where he sets up the Viśvakarmeśvara Liṅga.

Viśvāmitra stood still for a thousand divine years, holding hot milk pudding for Durvāsa, and then asked his disciple Kautsa for fourteen crore gold coins.

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa tells how the gandharva Citraratha became the asura Vṛtra, how Indra slew him at Antarvedī, and how Indra's Brahmahatyā was shared out.

Nandī stops Vyāsa's raised arm and speech at Kāśī. Vyāsa sings the Vyāsāshṭaka to Bhagavān Śiva, sets up the Vyāseśvara Liṅga, and is tested by withheld alms.

A mongoose rebukes Yājñavalkya for calling it nakula, curses him to a low birth as Bhartṛyajña, and he is freed at Mahīsāgara Saṃgama.

Yudhishṭhira's untruth to Droṇa kept him from being crowned, until he bathed for a month at Rāmatīrtha in the Setu region on Vyāsa's advice.

Maṃdara and Piṃgalā shelter the Śiva yogī Ṛshabha for a night, are reborn as Bhadrāyu and Kīrtimālī, and pass Bhagavān Śiva's test in the forest.

Through Agastya's tapas, Brahmā sends a part of Gaṅgā to flow south as the river Svarṇamukhī.

King Candrasena worships Mahākāla in Ujjayinī. A cowherd boy, Śrīkara, worships a stone on Śani-Pradosha, and Hanumān comes to bless him.

Agni is freed from the flaw of burning everything by Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa at Badarīkāśrama, and the Agni Tīrtha begins.

Caṇḍuka, a Śabara hunter, takes a prince's joking words on Śiva pūjā as true. He and his wife Śabarī are taken to Bhagavān Śiva's realm.

A silent brāhmaṇa boy who only repeats the Vāsudeva mantra answers his grieving mother with a teaching on the body and inner purity.

Dharma Gupta, son of the slain king Pratharatha, is raised by a brahmin widow, marries Aṃśumatī and wins back Vidarbha through the fruit of Pradosha.

Añjanā does a thousand years of tapas at Ākāśagaṅgā on Veṅkaṭādri, and Vāyu promises to be born as her son, Hanumān.

Sumitra, born as a cāṇḍālī, offers bilva leaves at Gokarṇa on Śiva Caturdaśī. At her death Bhagavān Śiva's messengers take her to Parameśvara Loka.

Balarāma kills a Sūta at Naimishāraṇya, takes on brahmahatyā, and is freed of it at Lakshmaṇa Tīrtha in the Setu-kshetra.

Mahānanda of Nandīgrāma, a devoted courtesan, keeps her word to a Vaiśya who is Bhagavān Śiva in disguise. Her monkey and rooster, who wore Rudrāksha beads, are reborn as princes.

Barbarika, son of Ghaṭotkaca, boasts at Kurukshetra, is beheaded by Kṛshṇa, receives a vara, and sees the whole war from his head.

A brahmin named Vidura of Bāshkala and his wife are freed through hearing Śiva kathā, she at Gokarṇa and he as a piśāca in the Vindhya forest.

Brahmā boasts on Meru, Śiva creates Kālabhairava, who cuts off Brahmā's fifth head and is freed of brahmahatyā at Kapālamochana in Kāśī.

Śāradā, widowed on her wedding day, keeps the Umā-Maheśvara vrata for a year, and Devī Pārvatī answers her.

Śiva sends Brahmā to Kāśī as an old brāhmaṇa; he leads King Divodāsa to ten Aśvamedhas, then stays on and sets up Brahmeśvara Liṅga.

Sīmantinī, foretold to be widowed young, keeps the Somavāra vrata taught by Maitreyī, and Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī protect her family.

Brahmā and Vishṇu quarrel over who is supreme, an endless pillar of light appears, and Brahmā later gains pardon at Brahma Kuṇḍa.

The Śiva yogī Vāmadeva frees a brahmarākshasa in the Krauñcāraṇya forest and teaches the Tripuṇḍra of bhasma that Bhagavān Śiva gave to Sanatkumāra.

Candra does tapas at Badarī for 158,000 years until Bhagavān Vishṇu makes him lord of the planets, stars, herbs, brāhmaṇas and the night.

A dog that stood near a Śiva pūjā on Caturdaśī is reborn as Vimardhana, a Kirāta king, and tells his queen Kumuddvatī of his past births.

Bhagavān Rāma gathered his vānara army at Devīpattana, and Nala built a bridge of floating stones, one hundred yojanas long, across the ocean to Laṅkā.

A crow fell into the waters of Purushottama Kshetra and was freed at once. Yama protested, and Lakshmī Devī explained the nature of the kshetra.

Dādhīci gave up his body so that the Vajra could be made from his spine to kill Vṛtra. His wife Suvarcā followed him, and their son Pippalāda was born.

The Kāśī Khaṇḍa tells of Daksha's yajña without Śiva, Satī's self-immolation, Vīrabhadra's attack, and Daksha's *tapas* in Kāśī that gave the Daksheśvara Liṅga.

Daksha holds a great yajña at Kanakhala without Śiva. Satī gives up her body, Vīrabhadra destroys the yajña, and Śiva restores Daksha with a goat's head.

In the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Nārada explains dāna (giving): the three kinds of wealth and the riddle of King Dharmavarmā of Saurāshṭra.

Mataṅga's sons Dantila and Kohala skip the Vaiśākha rites, are cursed to be a lion and an elephant, and are freed by hearing about Vaiśākha.

A sacred tree trunk floats ashore at Purushottama Kshetra and becomes four mūrtis: Jagannātha, Balabhadra, Subhadrā and Sudarśana.

After Satī's death, Bhagavān Śiva walks through Dāruvana; the ṛshis' curse makes his liṅga grow into an endless pillar that fills all creation.

The great war of the devas against the asura Tārakāsura in the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, from Tāraka's march to his death at Kumāra's hand.

At Mahīsāgara Saṃgama, Nārada meets the tapas-ṛshi Devaśarman and the householder Subhadra, and the tīrtha shows that both have won equal puṇya.

Dharma does thirty thousand years of tapas in a forest, Bhagavān Śiva appears, names the place Dharmāraṇya, and sets up the Dharmeśvara Liṅga and the Dharma Vāpī.

Dharmavarṇa sees his ancestors hanging by a blade of dūrvā grass in Pitṛloka, returns to earth, and frees them all by the Chaitra Amāvāsyā śrāddha.

Yama does tapas before Devī Viśālākshī in Kāśī, the Dharmeśvara Liṅga appears, and Bhagavān Śiva confirms Yama as Dharmarāja.

Bhagavān Śiva leaves Kāśī for Mandara, righteous King Dīvodāsa rules for eighty thousand years, and everyone Śiva sends to remove him stays in Kāśī.

Bhavānī slays the daitya Durgāsura, gets the name Durgā, and is set up in Kāśī as its southern guardian with Śaktis, Bhairavas, Vetālas and Bhūtas.

Durvāsa Maharshi comes to Kāśī, grows angry at the lack of results from his tapas, and is stopped by Bhagavān Śiva, who gives the Liṅga the name Kāmeśvara.

Arjuna visits five empty tīrthas on the southern coast and lifts out five crocodiles, who turn back into the apsarās Varcā, Saurabheyī, Sāmeyī, Budbuda and Latā.

Gālava Ṛshi does tapas at Cakratīrtha in Setu-kshetra, sees Bhagavān Vishṇu, and learns how the Sudarśana Cakra split the tīrtha in two.

Vyāsa tells Yudhishṭhira how Pārvatī made Gaṇeśa, how he lost his head and received an elephant's head, and how he came to guard Satya Mandira at Dharmāraṇya.

Pārvatī makes an elephant-faced child from the dirt of her body, Bhagavān Śiva names him Vighnarāja, and Pārvatī later goes to do tapas and takes him with her.

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa tells how Gaṇeśa, son of Māyā, fought Bhagavān Śiva, lost his head, was given an elephant's head, and became lord of all gaṇas and vighnas.

Garuḍa does tapas for thirty thousand years to become Bhagavān Vishṇu's vāhana, and the Gāruḍī Śilā is made at Badarī.

Ghaṭotkacha wins Kāmakaṭaṅkaṭā in a riddle, a contest of māyā and a fight, and marries her at Indraprastha. Their son is Barbarika.

King Ghosha is healed by a bath in a sacred lake, praises Bhagavān Sūrya, and asks for a mūrti there. The place becomes Ghosharkakuṇḍa.

Bhagavān Vishṇu does tapas in secret at Ayodhyā so the devas can defeat the daityas. He is known there as Guptahari, and the place of his cakra as Cakrahari.

Bhagavān Vishṇu rises as Hayagrīva from a kuṇḍa at Badarī, kills Madhu and Kaiṭabha and wins back the Vedas. The Vedas stay at Badarī as the Sarasvatī river.

How Bhagavān Vishṇu came to have a horse's head, and how as Hayagrīva he did tapas at Dharmāraṇya and made Devavarma tīrtha and the Mukteśvara liṅga.

A prince who killed three hundred brāhmaṇa disciples is freed from brahmahatyā by one act of kindness in Vaiśākha: shading the ṛshi Trita with a palāśa leaf.

King Hemanga, who scorned the gift of water in Vaiśākha, suffers eleven bad births until the ṛshi Śrutadeva gives him his own puṇya and frees him.

How Indra lost his power through a grave wrong, and regained it by keeping the Vaiśākha Śukla Tṛtīyā, which was then named Akshaya.

Indra, burdened by brahmahatyā after killing Vṛtrāsura, does a hundred years of tapas at Dharmāraṇya, where Bhagavān Śiva sets up the Indreśvara Liṅga.

The full history of Purushottama Kshetra: Nīla Mādhava, King Indradyumna, the dāru mūrtis of Jagannātha, Brahmā's pratishṭhā and the yearly festivals.

Forgotten by all, King Indradyumna seeks a witness to his fame, finds it in four ancient creatures, and at Mahīsāgara Saṃgama asks for the state of a gaṇa of Śiva.

Jaigīshavya vowed to take no food or water until Bhagavān Śiva came back to Kāśī, and the Liṅga Jyeshṭheśvara appeared where he stood.

The turtle at Mānasasarovara was once king Jayadata, whom Bhagavān Śiva cursed for harming the wives of others, and whose testimony restored Indradyumna's fame.

How the wager of Kadrū and Vinatā, and Garuḍa's theft of the amṛta, led Vinatā to set up Khakholkāditya in Kāśī.

The ṛshi Kakshīvanta bathed at Agastya Tīrtha, was carried by a white elephant to a svayaṃvara, and married the princess Manoramā.

Nārada goes to the hidden village of Kalāpagrāma and puts twelve questions to its brāhmaṇas. The boy Sutanu answers them all.

Bhagavān Śiva burns Manmatha to ash with his third eye, spreads the fire of desire through the world, and Pārvatī resolves to do tapas.

Śrīmātā brings forth the eighteen-armed Mātaṅgī, who defeats the daitya Karṇāṭaka, and the south takes his name.

Bhagavān Śiva's energy passes through Agni, the devas and the Kṛttikās into the Gaṅgā, where six-faced Kārttikeya is born.

King Kīrtiman makes the Vaiśākha vrata law in his kingdom, the narakas empty, and Bhagavān Vishṇu answers Yama.

Bhagavān Śiva slays the huge daitya Gajāsura, wears his hide, and Gajāsura becomes the Kṛttivāseśvara Liṅga in Kāśī.

After slaying Tāraka, Skanda installs Liṅgas at the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama, and the devas install a fifth, Siddheśvara.

On Gandhamādana, the Garuḍa Kuśadhvaja tells how a monkey who swung Bhagavān Śiva's liṅga became a prince, a gaṇa and then a Garuḍa.

Lakshmaṇa breaks Rāma's rule to save Ayodhyā from Durvāsa Maharshi, returns to his form as Ādiśesha, and the tīrtha Sahasradhārā is named.

After the churning of the ocean, Brahmā gives Śrī Lakshmī in marriage to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, and every guest sings a stotra to Bhagavān Vāsudeva.

The rākshasa Lolajihva ruins Dharmāraṇya, Bhagavān Vishṇu slays him with the Sudarśana cakra, and the rebuilt city is named Satya Mandira.

Lomaśa Muni, who loses one body-hair each kalpa, tells King Indradyumna how one act of Śiva pūjā gave him long life, and teaches antaryoga and bahiryoga.

Kālabhīti, who feared Kāla so much that he stayed four years in the womb, does tapas at Mahīsāgara Saṅgama and becomes the Mahākāla Liṅga.

Where the Mahī river meets the western sea: a tīrtha whose waters hold every tīrtha on earth, and where king Indradyumna set up a liṅga before joining Śiva's gaṇas.

Devī Mahishāsuramardinī slays the asura Mahishāsura at the Dharma Pushkariṇī, and the place becomes Devīpattana, where Bhagavān Rāma later began Rāmasetu.

Mālini, who harmed her husband and lived in adultery, is freed after many births as a dog when Padmabandhu gives her the puṇya of his Vaiśākha Dvādaśī.

Skanda tells how Śiva made Avimukta before creation, how Vishṇu dug a pond with his discus, and how Śiva's earring fell into it and gave Maṇikarṇikā its name.

Mārkaṇḍeya, sent by Nārada to Badarīkāśrama, chants the ashṭāksharī mantra on a rock, sees Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, and the rock becomes the Mārkaṇḍeya Śilā.

The devas and siddhas leave Meru to be near Bhagavān Vishṇu at Badarī, and out of compassion he brings Meru's golden peaks to Badarīkāśrama for them.

Nāḍījaṅgha, a gaṇādhipa of Bhagavān Śiva, fell through pride and was put under a śāpa by Gālava Muni to live as a crane until Indradyumna's fame was restored.

Nahusha, a righteous king, is made the temporary Indra, falls through pride, and becomes a serpent by Agastya's śāpa until Yudhishṭhira frees him.

The merchant Nandabhadra, who knew the essence of dharma, is taught about sorrow by a sick seven-year-old boy who is Bhagavān Sūrya, worshipped as Bālāditya.

Nara and Nārāyaṇa do tapas at Badarī. Indra sends Manmatha to disturb them, and Nārāyaṇa makes Urvaśī from his own body as a gift of hospitality.

Nārada goes from Śveta-dvīpa up through the worlds to Goloka, sees Bhagavān Kṛshṇa with Rādhā, offers a stotra, and hears the conditions for this vision.

Nārada sets up his own mūrti at Mahīsāgara, and Bābhravya tells Arjuna why Nārada wanders and stirs up quarrels, as Bhagavān Kṛshṇa once explained.

Indra sends Nārada to Himavān to arrange Pārvatī's union with Śiva, and Nārada explains the hidden meaning of Śiva's strange marks.

Nārada does tapas for sixty thousand years at Badarī, sees Bhagavān Vishṇu, and the Nāradī Śilā becomes the first of the five śilās of Badarī.

Bhagavān Vishṇu withdraws the Nīla Mādhava form before King Indradyumna arrives, and a divine voice announces the coming of the dāru-mūrti.

Chapter 59 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa tells how Dhūtapāpā, Dharmanāda, Kiraṇā, Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī met to form the Pañcanada Tīrtha at Kāśī.

Brahmā sends Rātri into the womb of Menā so that Satī can be born again as Pārvatī, and the whole world rejoices at her birth.