Skandapurana 2.7.17

The story of Vālmīki's previous birth.
Śrutakīrti said:

“All the duties of Vaiśākha yield fruits both in this world and the next;

though hearing them repeatedly, no satiety has come even today, O bestower of honor!

Where there is genuine dharma, where there are auspicious stories of Viṣṇu,

one who hears that teaching, an elixir for the ears, never feels satiated.

By good fortune, the merit acquired in a previous life has reached its culmination,

since you have arrived at my house under the pretext of hospitality.

Having drunk the wonderful nectar of your words flowing from your lotus face,

I am satisfied, and I do not desire the station of Brahmā or liberation.

Therefore, explain to me again at length those very duties

that bestow worldly enjoyment and liberation, pleasing to Viṣṇu, divine.”

Thus addressed formerly by the king, the highly renowned Śrutadeva,

delighted in spirit, began to expound the auspicious duties again.

Śrutadeva said:

“Listen, O king! I shall tell a tale that destroys sins,

concerning the duties of Vaiśākha, repeatedly reflected upon by sages.

On the bank of the Pampā was a twice-born named Śaṅkha, of great renown;
when Jupiter entered Leo, he went to the auspicious Godāvarī river.

Crossing the holy Bhīmarathī, in a wilderness at Kaṇṭakācala,

waterless, desolate, and terrible, in the month of Vaiśākha, tormented by the heat,

the twice-born sat down beneath a tree at noon.

Then a certain rogue hunter of vile conduct, carrying a bow,

pitiless toward all beings, like another Death, the ender of time,

seeing that consecrated brahmin wearing earrings, radiant like the sun,

that fierce-minded man bound him and seized his earrings and other belongings:

the two sandals, the umbrella, the rosary, and the water-pot.

Afterward, letting that brahmin go, the foolish-minded one said, ‘Be off!’

Then, as he walked along the path covered with gravel, scorched by the rays of the sun, waterless and rough,

his feet severely burnt, that chaste ascetic walked on, in some places, onto grass-covered ground, pausing repeatedly.

Stumbling rapidly, content nowhere, crying out ‘Alas, alas!’, he went along swiftly.

Seeing the sage suffering on the earth when the sun had reached the meridian, compassion arose [in the hunter].

[Thought] the hunter, though averse to dharma and sinful in mind: ‘I will give him the comfort-giving footwear!

What was taken in the forest by theft alone, by one's own livelihood—

all that indeed belongs to him: such is the determination of duty for hunters.

Therefore, I will give the two sandals to dispel his constant pain.

Whatever good may arise from that, let it accrue to me, a sinner!

Moreover, two worn-out sandals are on my feet;

I have no need of those two; therefore, I shall indeed give them to him.’

Having so resolved in his mind, he went quickly and gave them

to that best of twice-born who was suffering with feet scorched by the gravel.

Taking the two sandals, he attained supreme relief;

and blessing that hunter with blessings, saying ‘Be happy!’, [he said:]

‘Surely his merit has fully ripened, that he gave these two in Vaiśākha!’

even to this hunter of evil mind, Viṣṇu is mostly gracious. / And the joy that has become mine is like that of regaining all that was lost."

Then, having heard that statement, astonished, wondering, 'What is this?',

he addressed the brahmin again, most knowledgeable in the Veda and an expounder of Brahman:

"Yet what belonged to you was given by me; how can there be merit for me?

And you praise Vaiśākha, saying that Hari will be pleased.

Tell this to me, O brahmin: what is Vaiśākha, and who is Hari?

What is dharma, and what is its fruit, for me who am eager to hear, O treasure of compassion?"

Hearing these words of the hunter, Śaṅkha became pleased in mind.

Praising Vaiśākha, his mind filled with wonder again:

"Just now the deceitful hunter gave me foot-coverings.

Oh, how marvelous that the wickedness of his evil mind has been overturned!

For the fruit of all dharmas indeed [accrues] in other births,

[but] the fruit of the dharmas of the month of Vaiśākha comes instantly in a moment to men.

Even of this wicked, evil-minded hunter of sinful conduct,

by the gift of shoes through providence, purity of being has arisen—oh!

And whatever action is dear to Viṣṇu, which is spotless through his satisfaction,

that alone Manu and others who know dharma best call dharma.

Those dharmas belonging to the month of Mādhava are exceedingly dear to Viṣṇu.

As Keśava is pleased by dharmas belonging to the month of Mādhava,

he is not so pleased by all gifts, nor by austerities, nor by great sacrifices.

No dharma equal to this is found among all dharmas.

Let them not go to Gayā, let them not go to the Gaṅgā, let them not go to Prayāga or to Puṣkara;

let them not go to Kedāra, to Kurukṣetra, to Prabhāsa, or to Syamantaka;

let them not go to the Godāvarī, nor to the Kṛṣṇā, nor to the Setu, nor to the Marudvṛdhā.

The river of narrative proclaiming the majesty of the dharma of Vaiśākha—

for one who has bathed therein, Viṣṇu is instantly retained in the heart.

He who is attained with very little in this month named after Mādhava

is not [attained] by gifts involving great expenditure, nor by dharmas, nor indeed by sacrifices.

This month called Mādhava, O hunter, increases merit.

In it, you gave me two sandals that remove heat.

Because of that, your past merit has reached fruition.

The Lord is pleased and will surely grant you the highest good, O hunter.

Otherwise, how could such an auspicious mindset arise in you?"

While the sage was speaking thus, a mighty lion impelled by death,

distraught with rage, rushed forward to kill a tiger.

Seeing an elephant between them, arranged through providence by the Lord,

he set out intent on killing it, standing there trampled by its feet.

A battle took place between the lion and the elephant in the forest, O king.

Weary from the fight and having ceased, both stood gazing at each other.

And what was spoken by the great-souled sage addressed to the hunter,

destroying all sins, the two of them happened to hear through providence.

By that very hearing of the greatness of the month, their intentions became pure.

Freed from the curse and instantly freed from that body, they went to heaven.

Assuming divine forms, celestial, smeared with divine fragrance and ointments,

mounted upon a divine aerial chariot, attended by divine women,

instantly bowing their heads, they approached with folded hands.

The lord of sages, speaker of dharma, who had been speaking to the hunter on the path,

seeing the two of them, was astonished and said, remaining still: "Who are you two?

Whence was your birth in a degraded womb, or how did your death occur,

ready to kill each other in this forest without reason?

Tell me all this in full detail, O sinless ones."

Thus addressed by that sage, the two replied again:

"We are the two sons of the sage Mataṅga: Dantila and the other, Kohala.

Through the fault of a curse, those two were born by the names Dantila and Kohala,

endowed with beauty and youth, skilled in all fields of knowledge.

Our father, knowledgeable in dharma and its purpose, spoke addressing us:

The brahmin seer named Mataṅga, the best of knowers of all dharma:

'In the month of Vaiśākha, dear to the Slayer of Madhu, O sons,

set up a water-stall on the road and fan the people for a moment.

Provide shade on the road, abundant food, and cool water.

"Perform ritual ablution at dawn, and worship the Lord in the same way;

and constantly listen to the sacred narrative by which bondage is dispelled."

Even though thus instructed with many words, the two of us, foolish-minded,

[became angry]—I, Dantila, became angry, and he, called Kohala, became arrogant.

Enraged, our father, who was devoted to righteous duties, immediately cursed the two:

"A son averse to righteousness, a wife who speaks harsh words,

and a king unfriendly to brahmins—one should renounce them immediately, lest one fall.

Those who associate [with them] out of courtesy or greed for wealth,

they all go to hell for as long as fourteen Indras reign."

Knowing this, he cursed the two of us overwhelmed with pride and anger:

"Let this Dantila, who is angry, become a lion filled with rage;

and let Kohala, who is proud, become a rutting leader of a herd of elephants!"

Having repented afterwards, however, the two of us begged for deliverance.

Besought by the two of us, our father once more granted an end to the curse:

"After having entered a wretched womb, yet after some time,

there shall be a meeting for the two of you, seeking to kill each other.

At that very time, the dialogue of the hunter and Śaṅkha

concerning the righteous duties of Vaiśākha, by destiny, into your hearing also

shall enter; instantly from that, liberation will come about.

Released from the curse, assuming your former forms, O my two sons,

come to me and live; my word cannot be otherwise."

Having been cursed thus by our father and entered a wretched womb, foolish-minded,

and having by destiny met together, seeking to kill each other,

we two have heard that divine, auspicious conversation of you two.

By that, immediate liberation came to both of us in a mere instant.

Having related all this and bowed to the lord of sages,

having taken leave and been permitted, they went to their father's presence.

Seeing that happen thus, the sage, a treasure of compassion, said to the hunter:

"Behold the great fruit of hearing the Vaiśākha-māhātmya!

From listening for just a single muhūrta, liberation was placed in their hands!"

To that eminent sage who was speaking thus, a treasure of compassion, detached, of foremost intellect,

of purified nature, the sole vessel of good deeds, the hunter, having cast down his weapon, spoke again:

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Thus ends the seventeenth chapter, titled 'Description of the Account of the Attainment of Liberation by Dantila and Kohala', in the Vaiśākhamāsamāhātmya, in the dialogue between Nārada and Ambarīṣa, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].