Skandapurana 2.7.24

Śrutadeva said:

“Among these auspicious lunar days, the twelfth day of the bright fortnight

in the month of Vaiśākha, O king of kings, destroys the mass of all sins.

What use are gifts, what use are austerities, what use are fasts and vows,

what use are Vedic and charitable rites for those by whom the twelfth day has not been observed?

Whatever [fruit] one obtains who gives a thousand cows at the Gaṅgā during an eclipse,

that fruit he obtains by bathing in the morning on the day of Hari.

Whatever food is given to a worthy person on the auspicious bright twelfth day,

with each morsel of boiled rice it becomes equal to feeding ten million brahmins.

Whoever gives a vessel of sesame seeds filled with honey on the twelfth day,

freed from all bonds, is exalted in the world of Viṣṇu.

On the eleventh day in the bright fortnight, one should keep a vigil for Hari.”

he becomes liberated while still alive, and all the gods become pleased.

Whatever fruit is obtained by plunging into sacred fords during a crore of solar and lunar eclipses,

that fruit one attains by bathing in the morning on the day of Hari.

One should worship Viṣṇu on the twelfth day with tender leaves of tulasī;

having delivered his entire family, he becomes a lord in the world of Viṣṇu.

(Interpolation: And worship of the aśvattha tree in Vaiśākha with tulasī leaves and flowers;

in the absence of flowers and the like, or with grains, one should worship Madhusūdana. /)
A person who, intending Yama, the ancestors, the teachers, the gods, and Viṣṇu,

on the bright twelfth day in the month of Mādhava, gives a water-pot together with a fee,

and also gives curd-rice—hear the meritorious fruit of that!

Whoever feeds a crore [of people] every day at Prayāga

with delightful food of the six flavours for a full year,

he obtains that [same] fruit by the command of the chastiser of Madhu.

Whoever makes a gift of a śālagrāma stone on the twelfth day,

in the bright half of Vaiśākha, is freed from all sins.

Whoever bathes Madhusūdana with milk on the twelfth day,

whatever fruit arises from the rājasūya and aśvamedha [sacrifices],

and on the thirteenth day worships Viṣṇu with substances mixed with milk, curd,

sugar, and honey, for the gratification of Madhusūdana,

he obtains that fruit in the Gaṅgā; of this there is no doubt.

And whoever with devotion completely bathes the all-pervading Viṣṇu with the five nectars,

he, having delivered his whole family, is exalted in the world of Viṣṇu.

Whoever gives a beverage in the evening on this day for the pleasure of Hari,

he quickly casts off his old sin, as a serpent casts off its old skin.

And whoever gives an elixir of cucumber in the evening,

becomes freed from the bondage of karma by the cucumber elixir.

One should give sugar-cane, mango fruit, and grapes;

there will be no disruption in his lineage for a hundred generations.

Whoever gives an anointment of fragrant paste in the evening on the twelfth day,

he is freed from all external afflictions; of this there is no doubt.

Whatever merit one performs on the twelfth day, O best of kings,

in the bright fortnight of Mādhava, that becomes imperishable in its fruit.

I shall tell of its fame, [and] how it came to be, O king,

which destroys all sins of all people and bestows all auspiciousness.

Formerly, in the country of Kāśmīra, there was a twice-born named Devavrata.

He had a daughter of beautiful form named Mālinī.

He gave her to Satyaśīla, an eminent and wise brahmin.

Having married her, the wise man went to his own country called Yavana.

Endowed with beauty and youth, she was nevertheless not dear to him.

Harsh, he remained constantly full of malice toward her.

Except for her, the husband hated no one else, O king.

Filled with anger toward him and eager for subjugation [charms],

she questioned women, O king, who had formerly been abandoned by their husbands.

She was told by them, O king: 'Your husband will become submissive.

Confidence has arisen in us who were insulted by our husbands' abandonment.

By administering a subjugating medicine, our husbands were indeed brought under control in the past.

Go today to the yoginī; she will give an auspicious medicine.

You should have no doubt: your husband will become like a servant.'

Having gone to the dwelling of the yoginī on their word, O king,

she obtained her incomparable favor, though she was an evil-doing [yet] faithful wife.

With haste, she resorted to the hut furnished with a hundred pillars,

very spacious, very splendid, and also bustling with visitors.

Wrapped in a long garment, the yoginī, in that presence,

covered with long matted locks, radiant with splendour,

attended by attendants, looking around very slowly,

with a rosary in her hand, muttering [mantras], was implored by her.

She gave a subjugating mantra that agitates [the mind] and inspires conviction.

Then, having bowed, she gave a costly ring,

set with diamonds and rubies, endowed with an intensely red lustre,

fashioned with soft gold, shining like the rays of the sun.

Seeing that ring placed at her feet, she was well pleased.

And her feeling, born of disrespect toward her husband, was perceived by her [the yoginī].

Then, O king, she was addressed by that female ascetic endowed with harmful intent:

“This powder, accompanied by an amulet, subjugates all beings.

Administer the powder to your husband and place the amulet upon his neck.

Your husband will become obedient; he will not go to any other beautiful woman.

He will never speak an unkind word, even to you who act unfaithfully.”

Taking the powder and the amulet, she went back to her husband’s house.

At dusk, mixed with milk, the powder was administered to her husband.

The amulet was indeed placed upon his neck; she gave it no reflection.

Then, O best of excellent kings, having drunk the powder, that husband,

from that powder contracted consumption; day by day the husband wasted away.

Moreover, dreadful worms were born in his private parts, arising from malignant sores.

Within a few days, O king, the husband had no stability at all.

She too, an unchaste and wicked-acting woman, lived according to her own desire.

Then the husband, his energy destroyed, his senses distraught, spoke to her,

crying out day and night: “I am your servant, O fair lady!

Save me, who have sought your refuge; I do not desire another woman.”

Understanding that this was known to him, she became frightened, O lord of the earth.

Wishing for her husband’s life only for the sake of ornaments, she was by no means well-disposed.

She went quickly to the yoginī and reported everything to her.

And by her a second medicine was given to quench the burning sensation.

And when that medicine was administered, the husband immediately became sound.

A paramour stayed in the house under the pretext of household chores;

lovers born of all castes indeed stayed in the house.

The husband had no capacity to speak in any way.

Then, through that very transgression, there arose in all his limbs

worms that cleaved his bones, resembling Death, the End-Maker, and Yama.

By them occurred the severance of her nose and tongue, and of both her ears,

and of her breasts and fingers; and lameness also came upon her.

By that she met her death and went to the torments of hell.

And she was roasted in a copper vessel for fifteen thousand [years];

she was born again and again in canine wombs a hundred times.

With severed nose, severed ears, and a head continuously infested with worms,

with severed tail and broken feet, she was beaten from house to house.

Afterwards, in the Sauvīra country, in the house of a maidservant

of a brahmin named Padmabandhu, she was born as a bitch overwhelmed with many miseries.

Her ears severed, her nose severed, her tail and feet mutilated, afflicted,

her head constantly full of worms, she lived with worms in her vulva.

In this manner thirty years passed in this birth, O ruler of the earth.

By fate, through the ripening of deeds, in the month of Vaiśākha, when the sun entered Aries,

on the twelfth lunar day of the bright fortnight, the son of Padmabandhu,

having bathed in the river and become pure, went home with wet clothes.

Reaching the tulasī pedestal, he washed his feet;

in the place beneath that pedestal, that bitch had fallen asleep.

Just before the time of sunrise, drenched with the water from his feet,

her inauspicious [burden] was instantly destroyed, and in a moment she remembered her past lives.

Remembering the deed done formerly, that bitch constantly

cried out piteously and wretchedly to the ascetic: “O sage, protect me! Save me!” repeatedly.

And remembering, agitated with fear, she reported her own deed to the lord of sages:

the administration of poison to her husband, and likewise her own wicked conduct.

“Any other young woman, O brahmin, who practices subjugation of her husband,

is bereft of virtue, wicked in conduct, and is cooked in a copper vessel.

A husband is lord, a husband is teacher, a husband is the supreme deity;

having committed an offense, how could that virtuous wife attain happiness?

She goes to a hundred animal wombs and hundreds of millions of worms.

Therefore, O earthly deity, a husband’s word must always be obeyed by women.

I foresee again a vile womb filled with torments,

if, O brahmin, you do not deliver me today as I stand before your gaze.

Therefore deliver me, O brahmin, a sinner who has practiced evil deeds,

by granting your merit [performed] during the bright fortnight in Vaiśākha.”

The Dvādaśī, which enhances merit, that was observed by you, O brahmin—

the merit created by you on that day through ritual ablutions, gifts, and distribution of food, 66

by that, even for me of evil conduct, liberation will come to be, O brahmin.

Indeed, when a man, a brahmin, has bathed in his own house on that day, 67

he obtains the fruit of all sacred fords; there is no doubt about this.

Whatever austerity was practiced, gift made, oblation offered, or worship of deities and the like performed there— 68

that which is done on the day of Dvādaśī should be known to bear imperishable fruit.

Whatever such fruit there may be, give all of that to me! 69

By fasting on Dvādaśī and then breaking the fast on Trayodaśī,

whatever fruit there may truly be, by that my liberation will come to pass. 70

Show mercy, O fortunate one, toward a wretched one, O lover of the wretched!

The protector of the wretched, the lord of the universe, and your lord is Janārdana; 71

His people are just like Him: as the king is, so are the subjects.

O destroyer of Yama's realm, rescue an exceedingly afflicted one! 72

I am a wretched bitch living at your door, O lover of the wretched!

Whether a thousand murders of a brahmin or a thousand slayings of a cow, 73

or tens of millions of illicit approaches, that auspicious lunar day burns away completely.

Bestowing upon me the great merit accumulated on that day, O great sage, 74

deliver me, agitated and miserable! O protector, rescue me!

In the end, I utter an expression of salutation to you, the foremost of the twice-born! 75

Hearing her words, the sage’s son said to the bitch:

“Creatures experience their own deeds, which consist of happiness and misery, O bitch! 76

Therefore, what should be done for you, a vile creature of sinful nature,

by whom her husband, a twice-born, was brought under control with magical ash-powders and the like? 77

The sin that is committed against the virtuous causes grief to oneself.

The merit that is done for the virtuous removes grief from oneself. 78

Both perish when directed toward the sinful.

Milk mixed with sugar offered to a serpent 79

is seen to cause the increase of poison; just so does [merit given to sinners] produce sin.”

While the sage's son was speaking thus, the bitch, the very embodiment of sorrow, 80

cried out again at the top of her voice, speaking much to his father:

“O Padmabandhu, protect the bitch residing at your door! 81

I constantly eat your leftover food. Save me!” she cried again and again.

“Those dependents who belong to a noble householder— 82

their deliverance must be effected: this is the opinion of the knowers of the Veda.

Outcastes, crows, and dogs are constantly 83

recipients of the compassion of householders, feeding daily on the food offerings.

If a householder does not deliver an incapable dependent stricken with disease and the like, 84

he falls into the depths; there is no doubt about this: such is the opinion of the knowers of the Veda. 85

Having made Himself the sole Creator of the worlds, the Creator Himself protects all living beings;

under the pretext of the forms of wives and other dependents, Hari [acts]; therefore, protecting dependents is indeed His command. 86

If a creature, forsaking the protection of his own dependents, acts with an estranged mind despite the divine dispensation,

he, a betrayer of God and a destroyer of all, departs to the worlds of Yama. 87

Because it is your duty and out of compassion, deliver this foolish creature!”

Hearing these words of hers who was afflicted with grief in the house, the son [spoke];

then Padmabandhu, an ocean of compassion, quickly stepped out of the house. 88

“What is this?” he said to her, and the son explained everything.

Hearing his son's words, he spoke to him in astonishment: 89

Padmabandhu said:

“My son, how could such a word be spoken by you?

This is not the speech of the virtuous here, O fair-faced one! 90

When examined, sins are those that produce only self-gratification.

See, my son! All beings truly exist for the benefit of others: 91

the moon, the sun, the wind, night, fire, and water,

sandalwood, trees, and virtuous persons are intent on benefiting others. 92

The gift of his bones was made by Dadhīci out of mercy, O son,

for the sake of assisting the gods, knowing the demons to be exceedingly powerful. 93

For the sake of a dove, his own flesh was anciently given by King Śibi,

O noble one, to a hungry hawk. 94

Formerly, there was a king named Jīmūtavāhana on the surface of the earth.

By him too his life was given to the high-souled Garuḍa. // 95

Therefore a wise terrestrial god (brahmin) ought to be compassionate.

Does the cloud-god rain on the pure and not rain on the impure? // 96

Does the moon not constantly illumine the house of outcasts?

Therefore, this female dog begging again and again, // 97

I shall rescue by my own merits, just like a cow stuck in the mud.”

Having thus rebuffed his son, the broad-minded one made a vow: // 98

“Given, given is the great merit produced on the day of the Dvādaśī!