Skandapurana 3.3.23.15

3.3.23.15

14 atha prāptarājyasiṃhāsanasya bhadrāyoḥ kadācinnijabhāryayā saha vanaṃ gatvā svacchanda- vihārakaraṇam, tasminneva samaye tasminvane kayościddvijadampatyormadhye vyāghre- ṇānugatyopadrave kriyamāṇe tābhyāṃ nijarakṣaṇārthamuccaiḥ śabdena rājñaḥ prārthanākaraṇam, tadaiva vyāghreṇāgatya dvijapatnyā grahaṇam, tasyopari bhadrāyuṇā vṛte'pi śastraprahāre sarvaśastrāṇāṃ vyarthībhāvaḥ, vyāghreṇa ca dvijapatnyāṃ hṛtāyāṃ dvijena śokapūrvakaṃ rājño dhikkārakaraṇam atha rājñā bhadrāyuṇā vyāghranāśitapatnīkasya tasya dvijasya sāntvanāya vahuvidhaprārthanākaraṇam, tato dvijena rājānaṃ prati nijakāmopabho- gaśāntyarthaṃ rājapatnīṃ prati yācanākaraṇam, tato bhadrāyuṇā tasmai brāhmaṇāya nijapatnīṃ dattvāgniṃ prajvālya śivaṃ dhyātvā'gnau patanāyodyamanam, tasminnevāvasare tadbhaktiparīkṣārthaṃ dvijarūpadhāriṇā tenaiva śrīśaṃkareṇa svasvarūpeṇa prādurbhavanam tasya śrīśaṃkarasya bhadrāyuṇā stutikaraṇam, tatstutiprasannena bhagavatā śrīśaṃkareṇa sapa- tnīkāya bhadrāyuṣe varapradānam, bhadrāyuṣaḥ śivaprasādādrājyasukhopabhogaprāptivarṇa- nam, ante ca putreṣu rājyaṃ vinyasya bhadrāyuṣaḥ śivasāyujyaprāptiḥ, bhadrāyuśvaśu- rasya citrāṅgadasya nijapatnyā sīmantinyā saha śāmbhavapadāvāptivarṇanam, itthaṃ śivabhaktimāhātmyavarṇanam... ....... ..... 200 1

14. Then, Bhadrāyus, who had attained the royal throne, once went to the forest with his wife and roamed about at will; at that very time in that forest, when a tiger pursued and harassed a certain brahmin couple, they cried out loudly in supplication to the king for their own protection; right then the tiger came and seized the brahmin's wife; though blows with weapons were struck against it by Bhadrāyus, all the weapons became useless; and when the brahmin's wife was carried off by the tiger, the brahmin, filled with grief, reviled the king; then King Bhadrāyus made manifold appeals to console that brahmin whose wife had been destroyed by the tiger; then the brahmin begged the king for the queen in order to appease the longing of his own desire; then Bhadrāyus, giving his own wife to that brahmin, kindled a fire, meditated on Śiva, and prepared to throw himself into the fire; at that very moment, that very Lord Śaṃkara, who had assumed the form of the brahmin in order to test his devotion, manifested in his own true form; Bhadrāyus uttered a praise to Lord Śaṃkara; pleased by that praise, the blessed Lord Śaṃkara granted a boon to Bhadrāyus along with his wife; description of Bhadrāyus's attainment of the enjoyment of royal pleasures through Śiva's grace; and in the end, having entrusted the kingdom to his sons, Bhadrāyus's attainment of union with Śiva; description of the attainment of the state of Śambhu by Bhadrāyus's father-in-law Citrāṅgada along with his wife Sīmantinī; thus is the description of the greatness of devotion to Śiva. ... ....... ..... 200 1