Skandapurana 1.2.22

Mārkaṇḍeya said:

O master Nandikeśvara, blissful through eternal Śiva, O lord!

I am delighted by you with the nectar of the majesty of the Lord of Śoṇa. / 1

How did Vajrāṅgada, the king of the Pāṇḍyas, commit a transgression

against Śoṇa, and how, through devotion to him alone, did he regain his prosperity? / 2

How were the two lords of the vidyādharas, Kāntiśālin and Kalādhara,

pierced by the curse of Durvāsas, protected by Śoṇa-Śambhu? / 3

Nandikeśvara said:

You have attained the fruition of your long life, O son of Mṛkaṇḍu,

since this steadfast devotion of yours is directed towards the Lord of beings. / 4

I shall tell the story of Vajrāṅgada and the account of the two vidyādharas,

from which the majesty of the Lord of Śoṇādri became celebrated in the world. / 5

Formerly, among the Pāṇḍyas, there was a king named Vajrāṅgada,

on the pillar of whose arm the earth rested like a bracket figure. / 6

Righteous, knowing justice, discerning, profound, courteous, forbearing,

calm, modest, wise, devoted to a single wife, accomplished, / 7

intent on worshipping and honoring Śiva, fortunate, foremost among the virtuous,

having conquered his enemies, he ruled the earth from the Bridge to Kedāra. / 8

Once, riding a fine horse under the pretext of hunting,

he entered deep into the dense forest bordering Aruṇācala. / 9

There, having seen a musk deer

diffusing a strong fragrance, he urged his horse after it out of curiosity. / 10

Pursued by him, that swift deer, having circumambulated

Śoṇaparvata clockwise, fell to the ground. / 11

Then the king, his strength broken and exhausted from riding,

fell from his mount, drained of luster, like one whose merit is exhausted falling from heaven. / 12

Afflicted in this way by an unknown cause, as though by an elephant,

the king, like one seized by a planet, did not know himself for a moment. / 13

And he thought: 'What is this causeless ruin of my courage?

Where has my riding horse suddenly gone?' / 14

While he was thus distraught with worry, unable to understand what had happened,

the sky suddenly appeared as if matted with banks of lightning. / 15

Even as he watched, shedding their animal bodies,

the horse and the deer quickly attained the state of sky-farers. / 16

Wearing diadems, earrings, necklaces, and armlets,

dressed in lower and upper garments of silk and adorned with garlands, the two shone brightly. / 17

And they addressed the king, whose mind was seized with wonder,

as though dispelling the darkness born of his distress with rays from their teeth: / 18

'O King, enough of dejection! By the power of the Lord of Śoṇādri,

know that this new state of ours has arisen.' / 19

Then, somewhat comforted, the king

spoke with joined palms and addressed them both with humility: / 20

'Who are you two, by whom such an affliction has been brought upon me?

Tell me, noble ones! For protecting the afflicted is the virtue of the great.' / 21

When this question was asked by him, Kalādhara,

directed by Kāntiśālin, said to the astonished king: / 22

'Know, O King, that formerly we were two lords of the vidyādharas,

greatly devoted to each other like Spring and the God of Love. / 23

Once, on the slope of the Golden Mountain, we went to the penance grove

of the sage Durvāsas, which was inaccessible even to thought. / 24

We saw a sacred pleasure garden, glowing with flowers, extending for a krośa,

the means for his worship of Śiva and radiant with his austerity. / 25

Although well-mannered, lacking the appropriate wise discernment of the truth,

we entered that garden, eager to gather blossoms. / 26

Out of affection for that spot, Kāntiśālin, exceedingly haughty,

wandered about, repeatedly striking the earth with footsteps. / 27

And I, infatuated by the extraordinary fragrance of the flowers,

laid my hands upon blossoming flowers, with wicked intent. / 28

Then, seated at the root of a bilva tree, sitting on a tiger skin,

Durvāsas, a mass of austerities, blazing like a sacrificial fire, / 29

his lower lip trembling incessantly in an excess of fury—

with his broad forehead furrowed by the knitting of dreadful brows, // 1.3.2.22.30

he was enraged, rich in fiery splendor, his body bristling with beads of sweat.

Looking at us as if burning us with his gaze, the sage rebuked the two of us: // 31

“Ah, wicked ones who have fallen from proper conduct, who are you two, so overly proud,

that have become like moths unto the blazing fire of my wrath? // 32

This penance grove of mine is holy and purifying to all creatures.

Even the sun and the moon do not touch it anywhere with their rays. // 33

This forest is dedicated exclusively to the worship of the Enemy of Tripura [Śiva].

Here even the wind does not stir, nor do six-legged bees alight here. // 34

Therefore, this sinner who defiles it with the tread of his feet,

let him become a horse in the mortal world, tormented by being ridden by others! // 35

And this other one, who, out of greed for the scent of flowers, has taken the form of a musk-deer,
let him fall into a terrifying mountain chasm!” // 36

When the thunderbolt of a curse was hurled in this way by him in fierce wrath,

our pride vanishing in that very instant, we both went to him for refuge, // 37

and grasping the feet of that divine sage, having spoken to him [thus]:

“This curse of yours cannot fail; therefore, let its termination be declared.” // 38

Then, beholding the two of us whose minds were exceedingly distressed, O king,

the king of sages became gracious, very cool with compassion. // 39

And he said: “Let it not be so! O you two of foolish mind, anywhere [else],

the alleviation of the curse will come about through circumambulation of the Red Mountain [Aruṇādri]. // 1.3.2.22.40

Long ago, indeed, the Enemy of Tripura [Śiva] presided over an auspicious assembly.

He was attended upon by the guardians of the directions, headed by Indra, Upendra, and Yama. // 41

And at that time, the goddess of the Nandana forest, to the God of gods,

offered as a present a certain pale-red fruit. // 42

Overcome with curiosity due to their childhood, Gajānana and the Six-faced One [Skanda]

begged their father for that most enticing fruit. // 43

Then the Lord spoke to his two sons, who were eager for the fruit,

having concealed the fruit with the hollow of his hands: “O boys! // 44

Whichever of you two is able to circumambulate this entire earth

encircled by the Lokāloka mountain, to him I will give [it].” // 45

When this was said by Pārvatī's Lord, whose moon-like face was smiling,

Skanda set out to circumambulate the earth. // 46

The Pot-bellied One [Ganeśa], however, of his father, the Lord in the form of the Red Mountain,

performed a circumambulation right there in front, at that very instant. // 47

Seeing that cleverness of his, the Three-eyed One [Śiva], to Heramba,

bestowed the fruit, having sniffed his head with affection. // 48

‘From this day forth, of all fruits [and rewards] the overlord

shall you be!’—having granted this boon to the Single-tusked One, Śaṃkara // 49

also spoke to the members of the assembly, all the gods and asuras,

variegating the hall with the spreading moonlight of his teeth: // 1.3.2.22.50

‘This stationary form of mine is the Red Mountain. Whoever, through devotion,

performs circumambulation of it, he shall attain conformity of form with me. // 51

He whose feet suffer pain due to circumambulation of this mountain,

he, as a universal emperor, attains the eternal state superior to all.’ // 52

Thus, by the ordinance of Śambhu, performing circumambulation of the Red Mountain,

all the gods obtained their respective desires. // 53

You two also, whose impurity arose from intoxication, have been chastised by me;

by circumambulation of the Red Mountain, there will be an end to your curse. // 54

Even though you are animals, circumambulation of Aruṇādri will be accomplished for you

through your association with the Pāṇḍya king, Vajrāṅgada.” // 55

Thus, with their bodies withered by the hālāhala-poison of the curse from that ocean of an intolerant great sage,

cast down by the heavy burden of their sins, they were swiftly born into the wombs of a horse and a deer. // 56

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled ‘Description of the Account of Vajrāṅgada’ in the section on the glory of the circumambulation of Aruṇācala, in the second half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 22