Skandapurana 3.1.53.40

3.1.53.40

36 atha punardhanuṣkoṭitīrthamāhātmyaprasaṃgena durācārābhidhavipravṛttāṃtavarṇanam , tatra gauta-mītīrasthasya durācārākhyasya dvijasya mahāpātakibhirjanaiḥ saha saṃsargeṇa niḥśeṣa-brāhmaṇyavināśe vetālena gṛhītvā gautamīpradeśāddhanuṣkoṭitīrthe nītvā dhanuṣkoṭi- tīrthajale nimajjanam, tattīrthasnānamātrādvetālagrahānmuktasya durācāramya śrīdattā-treyaṃ prati gatvā nijavṛttāntajijñāsayā prārthanāyāṃ kṛtāyāṃ dattātreyeṇa tasmai vetālagrahagrahaṇādivetālamuktiparyantavṛttakathanapūrvakaṃ dhanuṣkoṭitīrthamāhātmyakatha- nama, tatprasaṃgena vetālasya pūrvajanmani brāhmaṇasya bhādrapadakṛṣṇapakṣe pitṛśrāddhā-karaṇādvetālatvaprāptivarṇanam, tatprasaṃgena mahālayapakṣasthapratitithiśrāddhaphalavarṇanam, mahālayaśrāddhakaraṇaprabhāvāddhariścandrādīnāṃ rājarṣīṇāmatryādibrahmarṣīṇāṃ ca sarva- duḥkhanistārapūrvakasarvāṇimādisiddhiphalāvāptivarṇanam , śrīdattātreyāddhanuṣkoṭi-tīrthamāhātmyaṃ mahālayapakṣīyādiśrāddhamāhātmyaphalāni ca śrutvā tyaktadurācārasya durācārākhyaviprasya dattātreyoktamārgeṇa svagṛhaṃ pratyāgatya svadharmācaraṇena dehāṃte mokṣavarṇanam , sarvapāpanivṛttikaradhanuṣkoṭitīrthapraśaṃsā...... .... 64 2

36. Now again, in connection with the māhātmya of the Dhanuṣkoṭi sacred ford, the account of the brahmin named Durācāra is described: Therein, the twice-born named Durācāra residing on the bank of the Gautamī, having entirely lost his brahminhood through association with great sinners, was seized by a vetāla, carried from the region of the Gautamī to the Dhanuṣkoṭi sacred ford, and plunged into the waters of the Dhanuṣkoṭi sacred ford; freed from possession by the vetāla merely by bathing in that sacred ford, Durācāra went to holy Dattātreya, and upon his making a prayer desiring to know his own story, Dattātreya narrated the māhātmya of the Dhanuṣkoṭi sacred ford, preceded by telling the account from his seizure by the vetāla up to his liberation from the vetāla; in that connection, the vetāla's attainment of the state of a vetāla because in a previous birth as a brahmin he failed to perform the ancestral funeral offering in the dark fortnight of Bhādrapada is described; in that connection, the fruit of the funeral offerings on every lunar day belonging to the Mahālaya fortnight is described; through the power of performing the Mahālaya funeral offering, the crossing over all sorrow and the attainment of the fruit of all perfections beginning with minimisation by royal seers such as Hariścandra and brahmin seers such as Atri is described; having heard from holy Dattātreya the māhātmya of the Dhanuṣkoṭi sacred ford and the fruits of the māhātmya of the funeral offerings of the Mahālaya fortnight and others, the brahmin named Durācāra, having abandoned his bad conduct, returned to his own home by the path taught by Dattātreya, and his liberation at the end of bodily life through the practice of his own duty is described; praise of the Dhanuṣkoṭi sacred ford, which brings about the cessation of all sins. 64 2