Skandapurana 4.13

The two attendants said:

"Behold this holy city of Vāyu, named Gandhavatī,

situated to the north of Varuṇa's realm, O twice-born treasure of great fortune!

In this realm, the guardian of the quarter named Prabhañjana, the life-breath of the world,

worshipped venerable Mahādeva and attained the status of a guardian of the quarters.

Formerly, a son of Kaśyapa renowned as Pūtātman

performed extensive austerities in the capital of Dhūrjaṭi.

In Vārāṇasī, that greatly fortunate one, for a hundred million years,

after establishing the great, purifying liṅga named Pavaneśvara,

by merely beholding which a person becomes pure of soul,

and, having cast off the slough of sins, may dwell in the sacred city.

Then, pleased by his fierce austerity, Śiva, the bestower of the fruits of austerities,

Maheśvara, whose form is light, manifested from that liṅga.

And gracious in spirit, an ocean of nectar-like compassion, he said:

'Arise, arise, O Pūtātman! Choose a boon, O one of noble vows!

Through this fierce austerity and the worship of this liṅga,

there is nothing in the three worlds, with its moving and unmoving beings, that cannot be granted to you, O Pūtātman.'

Pūtātman said:

"O God of gods, Mahādeva, granter of fearlessness to the gods,

bestower of the ranks of all deities beginning with Brahmā, Nārāyaṇa, and Indra!

The Vedas do not comprehend what your nature is, O Lord;

proclaiming 'not this, not this', they have taken a hundred paths.

You are not accessible to the speech of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, or the Lord of Speech;

how could one like me be able to praise the Lord of Pramathas, O Lord?

Yet devotion forcibly impels me to the act of praise, O Lord;

what shall I do, O Lord of the world, when my senses are not under my control?

You are the universe; indeed, there is no difference, since you alone are omnipresent.

You are the praised, the praiser, and the praise; you possess attributes and are beyond attributes.

Before creation, you alone existed, devoid of form and name;

even yogins do not comprehend your essence in absolute truth.

When, being alone, you could not take delight, O Lord acting at your own will,

then that desire arose in you, which became your power to be served.

You, who are one, assumed duality through the distinction of Śiva and Śakti;

you are the Lord whose form is knowledge, while your will has the nature of Śakti.

By both of you, Śiva and Śakti, through your own sport,

the power of action was produced, and from that, this entire world.

You are the power of knowledge, O Lord, while Umā is traditionally called the power of will;

this universe is the power of action; therefore, you are the cause of it.

Your right half is Brahmā, and your left half is Viṣṇu;

the moon, the sun, and fire are your eyes, and your breath is the three Vedas.

The oceans arose from your sweat; the wind is your sense of hearing;

the ten quarters are your arms, and brahmins are said to be your mouth.

The best of kings are your arms, the vaiśyas arose from your thighs,

The śūdra came from your feet, O Īśāna, and the clouds are your hair, O Lord. (21)

In the form of Puruṣa and Prakṛti, you created the cosmic egg in the beginning;

Within the cosmic egg is this entire universe of the moving and unmoving. (22)

Therefore, I consider nothing separate from you, O you whose nature is the world!

All beings exist in you, and you consist of all beings. (23)

Homage to you, homage to you, homage to you, reverence again and again!

This alone is my boon, O Lord: may my mind remain steady in you. (24)

When that purified soul had spoken thus, the Lord, the ruler of gods,

Imparted to him his own form and bestowed the status of a guardian of the quarters: (25)

‘Omnipresent through my form, teaching all truths,

You indeed shall become the form of the lifespan of all. (26)

Those men who behold this divine liṅga of yours here

Shall be enriched with all pleasures and share in the bliss of your realm. (27)

A man who once in his life worships the Pavamāneśvara liṅga

According to the prescribed rule, with fragrant ceremonial baths and the like, (28)

With sweet-smelling sandalwood and flowers, is glorified in my realm.

To the west of Jyeṣṭheśa and to the north of the Vāyukuṇḍa, (29)

By worshipping the Pavamāna [liṅga], one is immediately purified.’

Having granted these boons, the god dissolved into that liṅga. (30)

The two gaṇas said:

Thus the nature of the city Gandhavatī has been described to you.

To its east lies this glorious Alakāpurī of Kubera. (31)

Through the discipline of devotion, its master obtained the friendship of Śambhu;

By worshipping Hara, he became the giver and enjoyer of treasures headed by the Padma. (32)

Śivaśarman said:

Who was he? Whose son was he? And what kind of devotion did he have toward Sadāśiva,

Through which he attained friendship with Dhūrjaṭi, the god of gods? (33)

To hear this, my mind has come within the range of hearing,

Sluggish in its belly, made plump by tasting the nectar of your words. (34)

The two gaṇas said:

O Śivaśarman of great wisdom, lord of completely purified senses,

Whose great stains born of all previous births have been washed away by good sacred fords! (35)

To you, a friend endowed with affection, nothing is unmentionable;

Conversation with good men leads to the increase of all welfare. (36)

In the city of Kāmpilya there lived one born in a family of Somayājins,

An initiated priest named Yajñadatta, skilled in the science of sacrifice, (37)

Proficient in the Vedas, Vedāṅgas, the meaning of the Vedas, and the conduct enjoined by the Vedas,

Respected by the king, possessing great wealth, generous, a vessel of fame, (38)

Devoted to the service of the sacred fire, and dedicated to Vedic study.

His son was Guṇanidhi, whose appearance was like the disc of the moon. (39)

Having undergone the sacred thread investiture, he then acquired extensive learning.

Then, unknown to his father, he became devoted to the practice of gambling. (40)

Repeatedly taking money from his mother,

He gave it to gamblers and formed friendships with them. (41)

He abandoned the conduct of a brahmin and turned away from the twilight rites and ritual ablution,

A reviler of the Vedas and śāstras, a reviler of the gods and brahmins. (42)

Lacking the conduct taught in the smṛtis, he engaged in the amusements of song and musical instruments,

Bound in unbroken affection with actors, heretics, and rogues. (43)

Even when urged by his mother, he would not go near his father.

Occupied with other household tasks, the initiated priest to his wife (44)

Whenever he asked her: ‘O lady, our son Guṇanidhi

Is not seen by me in the house. Where does he go? What is he doing?’ (45)

Then every time she would say: ‘Just now he has gone outside.

Having bathed and worshipped the gods for this long time, (46)

And having studied, he went out with two or three friends for the sake of study.’

Thinking ‘he is an only son,’ his mother deceived the initiated priest. (47)

The initiated priest knew nothing of that conduct or that behavior of his.

And having performed his hair-clipping rite in his sixteenth year, (48)

He had his marriage performed in accordance with the rule taught in the domestic manuals.

Every day his mother gently instructed her son Guṇanidhi;

her heart melting with affection, [she said:] 'Your father is exceedingly irascible.

If he comes to know your conduct, he will beat both you and me.

I always conceal your wicked behavior before your father.

Your father is honored by the world for his virtuous conduct, not indeed for riches.

True learning and the company of the virtuous are the wealth of brahmins, my son.

True scholars versed in the Vedas, proficient in recitation, initiated for rituals, and sacrificers with soma—

thus your ancestors attained renown in this world.

Abandon the company of the wicked and take delight in the association of the good;

apply your noble mind to good learning and practice the proper conduct of a brahmin.

Suited to you in beauty, in age, in family, and in character,

—you are nineteen years old, and she is sixteen—

is your wife, O Guṇanidhi, chaste and sweet of speech.

Cherish her, who is of good conduct, and be devoted to your parents.

Even your father-in-law is respected everywhere for his virtues and character;

do you not feel shame before him? Abandon your wickedness, child!

Your maternal uncles are peerless, my son, in learning, conduct, lineage, and other merits;

do you not fear even them? You are pure on both sides of your family!

Look at these sons of brahmins living in the neighboring houses,

and look at these disciples of your father in our own house, behaving with modesty!

When even the king hears of your misbehavior, my son,

he will lose faith in your father and terminate his livelihood.

People still say even now: "This is merely the foolish play of a child";

hereafter they will laugh, saying: "Fitting indeed for an initiated sacrificer!"

All will surely reproach both you, a brahmin, and me as well,

saying with harsh words: "A son takes after the character of his mother.

Can a father who has drunk the soma and walked the path of the Śruti and Smṛti be wicked?

Maheśvara is my witness that my mind is absorbed in his feet;

even after taking the ritual bath after menses, I have never looked upon the face of a wicked man in this world.

Alas, powerful is that fate through which you were born!"'

Though being admonished in this way every moment by his mother, exceedingly insolent,

he did not abandon his nature, because he was obtuse and addicted to vice.

Hunting, drinking wine, slander, courtesans, theft, gambling,

and adultery—by these vices, who here has not been ruined?

Whatever that base-minded fellow saw in the house, taking each and every thing,

he would hand it over to gamblers: base metals, garments, and the like.

Taking from his sleeping mother's hand his father's ring,

which was studded with the nine gems, on one occasion he handed it over into the hand of a gambler.

Once, as he was returning from the royal palace, his own signet ring

was recognized by the initiated sacrificer by chance in the hand of a gambler.

The initiated sacrificer said to him: 'From where did you get this ring?'

Questioned repeatedly by him with persistence, [the gambler] replied: 'What?

Why do you loudly reproach me, O brahmin? Was this obtained by me through theft?

This ring was given to me by your own son!

Indeed, yesterday the garment of my mother was brought by him after being won [by us].

Not only this ring has been surrendered to me;

vast wealth has been given by him to other gamblers:

gems, base metals, fine silk cloths, water-pitchers and the like,

and varied vessels made of bell-metal and copper.

Stripping them of clothes every day, the gamblers tie them up.

There is no gambler on the face of the earth equal to him!

How is it that until today, O brahmin, the crest-jewel of gamblers,

your son, expert in indiscipline and injustice, was not known to you?'

Hearing this, with his neck bent very low under the weight of shame,

covering his head with his cloth, he entered his own dwelling.

Approaching his wife, that great devotee of her husband, he said to her then:

'Wife of the initiated sacrificer, where are you? Where is your son Guṇanidhi?

Or let him be, what use is he? Where is that auspicious ring of mine,

studded with the nine gems, which was taken from my finger by you at the time of anointing the body?

Bring it quickly and give it to me!'

Hearing his words, the dīkṣita's wife became frightened

and said, "Perform your midday rites now.

I am busy preparing offerings and the like for the worship of the deity;

O lover of guests, the proper time for guests will pass.

Just now, being busy with the preparation of cooked food,

I placed it somewhere in a vessel and forgot; I do not know where it is."

The dīkṣita said:

"O mother of a virtuous son, you who always speak the truth!

Whenever I ask you, 'Where has our son gone?'

then and there you say, 'Lord, he has just gone out

together with two or three friends to study after recitation.'

Where is your madder-dyed garment, wife, which was presented by me

and hung on the clothes-stand? Speak the truth, cast off fear!

Even that gem-adorned water jug is no longer seen now.

Where too is that silken sash presented by the king?

Where is that bell-metal vessel of the South? Where is that copper pot from Gauḍa?

Where is that pleasant pleasure-couch made of ivory?

Where is that lamp of moonstone from the mountain country,

a carved figure with busy hands raised aloft?

What is the use of saying much, O woman of noble birth? I am angry with you in vain.

I shall eat only when I have taken another wife.

I am childless on account of that wicked boy, that defiler of the lineage.

Arise, bring darbha grass and water; I will offer a handful of sesamum seeds to him.

For men, childlessness is better than a bad son who degrades the lineage.

One should abandon a single person for the sake of a lineage; this is the eternal maxim."

Having bathed and performed his daily rites on that very day,

the dīkṣita found the daughter of a learned brahmin and took her hand [in marriage].

Hearing that news and reproaching his own past conduct,

the dīkṣita's son chose a certain direction and departed.

He fell into great anxiety: "Where shall I go? What shall I do?

I have not studied learning, nor do I have any wealth.

In a foreign land, a man with wealth or good learning prospers in happiness;

wealth carries fear from thieves, [but] one endowed with learning has no fear anywhere.

Where is birth in a family of sacrificial priests, and where is such vice of mine?

Ah, how powerful is destiny, which fastens onto future actions!

I do not know how to beg; nowhere do I have an acquaintance;

nor do I have any wealth with me. What refuge can there be here?

Always when the sun arose, my mother would give me sweet food;