Skandapurana 3.1.53.36

3.1.53.36

32 atha punardhanuṣkoṭitīrtha māhātmyavarṇana prasaṃgena somavaṃśasamudbhava nandanāmakanṛpatiputrasya dharmaguptasya caritravarṇanam, tatra nandanṛpe tapasyārthaṃ vanaṃ prayāte sati rājye'bhi-ṣiktasya dharmaguptasya kadācinmṛgayārthaṃ vanaṃ praviṣṭasya rātrau siṃhādiśvāpadabhītyā vṛkṣādhirohaṇam, tatraiva kenacitsiṃhenābhidrutasya kasyacidṛkṣasya nijaprāṇaparirirakṣi-ṣayā vṛkṣastharājasamīpamāgamanam , tato mithaḥ sambhāṣaṇapūrvakaṃ viśvāsaṃ samutpādya rātrau yāmadvayavibhāgena bhūpatyṛkṣābhyāṃ paryāyeṇa nidrājāgṛtivyavasthākaraṇam, atha prathamaṃ rājani supte sati siṃhenarkṣaṃ prati rājānaṃ nīcairnikṣipetyukte'pi tenarkṣeṇa viśvāsadharmaparipālanārthaṃ rājānamanikṣipya siṃhaṃ prati mitradrohapātakapariṇāmaka-thanam, tato nṛpe prabuddhe sati tasminnṛkṣe supte sati siṃhena bhūpaṃ pratyṛkṣaṃ nīcairnikṣi-petyukte rājñarkṣasya nīcaiḥ pātanam , tasminnavasare svanakhāvalaṃbitapādapena tenarkṣeṇa punaḥ pādapamadhiruhya svasya dhyānakāṣṭhābhidhamunitvakathanapūrvakaṃ kāmata ṛkṣarūpadhā-ritvamuktvā bhūpataye tvamunmatto bhaveti śāpaṃ pradāya sihaṃ prati gautamadattaśāpa-vaśātsiṃhatvaprāptirūpapūrvavṛttāntakathanam , dhyānakāṣṭhamunivacaḥśravaṇena siṃhasya tatkṣaṇameva yakṣarūpasvarūpātrāptipūrvakaṃ vimānamāruhya yakṣalokaṃ prati gamanam, tato nijecchayā ṛkṣarūpaṃ dhṛtavato dhyānakāṣṭhamuneḥ svecchayā vanāṃtaraṃ prati gamanam, dhyānakāṣṭhamuniśāpāddharmaguptasyonmattatāprāptyanantaraṃ svapuraṃ pratyāgamanam, tatastaṃ dharmaguptamunmattaṃ dṛṣṭvā tasya mantribhirnarmadātīranivāsinastatpiturnandabhūpasya samīpaṃ prati tasya dharmaguptasya nayanam, atha tatpitrā nandena svaputrasyonmattatādoṣaśāntaye jaiminimaharṣeḥ prārthanākaraṇam, tato jaiminimaharṣerājñayā nandamahībhṛtā dharmaguptaṃ putraṃ gṛhītvā rāmasetusthadhanuṣkoṭitīrthamabhyetya snānakaraṇam, dhanuṣkoṭitīrthe snānamātreṇa dharmaguptasyonmādaśāntiḥ, tato nandasya tapo'rthaṃ punastapovanaṃ prati gamanama, dharmaguptena rāmanāthasya bahuvittadānapūrvakaṃ saparyāṃ kṛtvā mantribhiḥ saha svapuraṃ pratyāgamanam , dhanuṣkoṭitīrthamāhātmyam 58 2

32. Now, again in connection with the description of the māhātmya of the Dhanuṣkoṭi tīrtha, the description of the deeds of Dharmagupta, the son of the king named Nanda born in the lunar dynasty: There, when King Nanda went to the forest for austerity, Dharmagupta, having been consecrated in the kingdom, once entered the forest for hunting; in the night, out of fear of beasts of prey such as lions, he climbed a tree; right there, a certain bear, pursued by a lion, came near the king who was in the tree in order to preserve its own life; then, having produced mutual trust through conversation, an arrangement of alternating sleep and watchfulness divided into two watches of the night was made by the king and the bear; now, while the king was asleep first, although told by the lion to the bear, 'Throw down the king,' that bear, in order to preserve the duty of trustworthiness, without throwing down the king, spoke to the lion on the consequences of the sin of betraying a friend; then, when the king had awakened and that bear had gone to sleep, when told by the lion to the king, 'Throw down the bear,' the bear was thrown down by the king; on that occasion, that bear, clinging to the tree with its claws, climbed back up the tree, and having first revealed its sagehood under the name of the sage Dhyānakāṣṭha and explained its assumption of the form of a bear at will, gave a curse to the king: 'Become insane!'; and to the lion it recounted its past history consisting of its attainment of the state of a lion due to a curse given by Gautama; upon hearing the words of the sage Dhyānakāṣṭha, that lion immediately recovered its original nature in the form of a yakṣa, mounted an aerial chariot, and went to the world of the yakṣas; then the sage Dhyānakāṣṭha, who had assumed the form of a bear of his own accord, went to another forest at his own will; after the attainment of insanity by Dharmagupta due to the curse of the sage Dhyānakāṣṭha, his return to his own city; then, seeing Dharmagupta insane, the bringing of that Dharmagupta by his ministers to his father King Nanda, who resided on the bank of the Narmadā; now, the making of a supplication to the great seer Jaimini by his father Nanda for the pacification of the affliction of his son's insanity; then, by order of the great seer Jaimini, the king Nanda, taking his son Dharmagupta, came to the Dhanuṣkoṭi tīrtha situated on Rāmasetu and performed a ritual ablution; through mere ritual ablution at the Dhanuṣkoṭi tīrtha, the cessation of Dharmagupta's insanity; then the return of Nanda to the penance grove again for the sake of austerity; Dharmagupta's worship of Rāmanātha with donations of vast wealth and his return to his own city with his ministers; the māhātmya of the Dhanuṣkoṭi tīrtha. 58.