Skandapurana 3.3.23.21

3.3.23.21

20 atha rudrākṣamāhātmyavarṇanam, tatra rudrākṣadhāraṇapuṇyavarṇanaprasaṃgena kāśmīradeśanṛpati- bhadrasenasutasya sudharmākhyasya rājāmātyasutasya tārakākhyasya cetyubhayo rājaputrāmātyaputrayorbālyata ārabhya paramamaitrībhāvena vartanam, ubhayorapi sadaiva hemaratna- mayālaṅkāraparityāgapūrvakaṃ rudrākṣadhāraṇe'tyantapremāṇaṃ dṛṣṭvā'tivismayāviṣṭena rājñā bhadrasenenekadā svagṛhaṃ pratyāgataṃ parāśaramuniṃ prati pūjāvidhinā satkṛtya tayorbāla- kayo rudrākṣadhāraṇābhirucikāraṇajijñāsayā praśnakaraṇam, tatastena parāśaramaha- rṣiṇā tayo rājaputrāmātyaputrayoḥ pūrvajanmavṛttāntavarṇanam, tatra pūrvaṃ nandigrāma- nivāsinyā mahāvaibhavaśālinyāḥ sadā sadāśivapūjāniratāyā mahānandānāmnyāḥ kasyāścidveśyāyāḥ sadmani nivasatoḥ kukkuṭamarkaṭayo rudrākṣakṛtakarṇa-bāhu-cūḍā- bharaṇayorveśyayā pratidinaṃ kṛtāyāṃ nṛtyaśikṣāyāṃ prāvīṇyaṃ prāptayoḥ pratidinaṃ tasyā veśyāyāḥ śivāgrato nṛtyasamaye nṛtyam, atha kadācittasyā bhavanaṃ kasya- cicchivavratadhāriṇaḥ śivayogino vaiśyasyāgamanam, tatkare divyaratnakaṃkaṇaṃ dṛṣṭvā tallipsayā tayā veśyayā tasmai vaiśyāya svasyā vārāṃganātve satyapi 'tridina- paryantaṃ ' tava patnītvaṃ svīkṛtya sahadharmacāriṇīdharmeṇā'haṃ tvāṃ seviṣye' iti pratijñākaraṇam, tataśca tena śivavrataparāyaṇena vaiśyena tasyā vacanamākarṇya bāḍhamityuktvā tasyā haste nijanityapūjanīyaratnamayaśivaliṅgaṃ dattvaitasya ratnamayaśivaliṅgasya nāśe mama prāṇanāśaḥ syāditi kathayitvā tasya liṅgasyātiprayatnena saṃrakṣaṇāyājñākaraṇam, tayā mahānandāveśyayā tasya vaiśyasyājñāṃ saṃmānya taddattaṃ liṅgamādāya nāṭyamaṇḍapikāstambhopari talliṃgaṃ nidhāya svagṛhaṃ praviśya rātrau tena vaiśyena paryaṃke sukhena saṃgatayā nidrākaraṇam, tato niśīthasamaye'kasmādutthitena vahninā tasyā veśyāyāḥ sarvanāṭyamaṇḍapasya dahanam ,tasminnavasare sadyaḥ prabuddhayā tayā veśyayā tatra satvarametya rajjvā śṛṃkhalayā ca nibaddhayoḥ tayoḥ kukkuṭamarkaṭayoḥ satvaraṃ bandhanato mocanam, mocitayostayoḥ kukkuṭamarkaṭayostasmānmaṇḍapasthalādvahnibhītyā dūre palāyanam, sarvamaṇḍapadāhe sati maṇḍapasthastambhasya tadupari nihitasya vaiśyadattaratnamayaliṅgasya ca dahanena śakalībhavanam, talliṅganāśaṃ dṛṣṭvā tena vaiśyena maraṇāya niścayaṃ kṛtvā citā- nirmāṇāya tāṃ mahānandāveśyāṃ pratyājñākaraṇam, tatastasya vaiśyasya dṛḍhanirbandhaṃ dṛṣṭvā tayā veśyayā grāmādbahiḥ kāṣṭhaiścitāyā nirmāṇam, tataḥ prajvālitāyāṃ tasyāṃ citāyāṃ tena śivabhaktena vaiśyena praveśakaraṇam, taṃ vaiśyaṃ citāṃ praviṣṭaṃ dṛṣṭvā'tikhinnayā tayā mahānandayā veśyayā tena trirātraṃ patnītvapratijñānā- tsahadharmacāriṇīdharmaṃ puraskṛtya śivabhaktebhyaḥ svakīyaṃ sarvasvaṃ pradāya tamagniṃ triḥ parikramya śivaṃ smṛtvā tasminnagnau patyanugamanāya praveśakaraṇāyodyamanam, tadānīṃ sākṣādbhagavatā śaṃkareṇa tatra prādurbhūya tasyā nivāraṇaṃ kṛtvā svasyaiva bhaktiparīkṣaṇāya vaiśyarūpeṇāgamanādi kathayitvā sarvaparivārajanaiḥ saha tasyā mahānandāyā veśyāyāḥ śivalokaṃ prati nayanam, tatparivārajaneṣvavaśiṣṭayorgṛha- dahanasamaye bandhanādvimucya dūraṃ palāyitayostayoḥ kukkuṭamarkaṭayoḥ svasvakālena maraṇe sati markaṭasya rājaputratvaṃ kukkuṭasya cāmātyaputratvaṃ saṃprati saṃprāptamiti parāśareṇa rājaputrāmātyaputrayoḥ pūrvajanmavṛttāntakathanam... ...... 210

20. Now begins the description of the māhātmya of rudrākṣa beads. In that context, on the occasion of describing the spiritual merit of wearing rudrākṣa beads, [there is an account of] the prince named Sudharman, son of King Bhadrasena of the country of Kāśmīra, and the minister's son named Tāraka, both of whom, from their childhood onward, lived in consummate friendship. Having witnessed in both of them an extraordinary love for wearing rudrākṣa beads to the constant exclusion of ornaments made of gold and gems, King Bhadrasena, filled with great wonder, once honored Sage Parāśara who had arrived at his palace according to the prescribed rites of worship, and inquired out of a desire to know the cause of those two boys' fond attachment to wearing rudrākṣa beads. Thereupon the great sage Parāśara described the account of the previous lives of the prince and the minister's son. In former times, in the house of a courtesan named Mahānandā—who dwelt in Nandigrāma, possessed immense opulence, and was constantly devoted to the worship of Sadāśiva—there lived a rooster and a monkey adorned with ear, arm, and crest ornaments made of rudrākṣa beads, who had attained mastery in the training in dance given daily by the courtesan and who used to dance daily in front of Śiva at the time of that courtesan's dance. Then, once, a certain vaiśya who observed the vow of Śiva and was a Śaiva ascetic arrived at her house. Seeing a celestial jewel-bracelet on his hand and desiring to obtain it, that courtesan, even though she was a professional courtesan, made a vow to that vaiśya: 'Having accepted the role of your wife for three days, I shall serve you in accordance with the duty of a lawful wife.' Hearing her words, that vaiśya, who was intent upon the vows of Śiva, said 'So be it,' placed in her hands a jeweled Śivaliṅga that was his object of daily worship, and commanded her to protect that liṅga with the utmost care, saying, 'If this jeweled Śivaliṅga is destroyed, it will be the end of my life.' Respecting that vaiśya's command, the courtesan Mahānandā took the liṅga given by him, set that liṅga atop a pillar of the dance pavilion, entered her house, and slept at night happily joined with that vaiśya upon the couch. Then at midnight, due to a fire that suddenly broke out, the entire dance pavilion of that courtesan burned down. At that moment, that courtesan, awakened immediately, went there swiftly and promptly freed from bondage that rooster and monkey who had been tied with a rope and a chain. Those two, the rooster and the monkey, having been freed, fled far away from that pavilion out of fear of the fire. When the whole pavilion burned, the pillar standing in the pavilion and the jeweled liṅga placed upon it, given by the vaiśya, broke into fragments from the burning. Seeing the destruction of that liṅga, that vaiśya resolved to die and commanded the courtesan Mahānandā to prepare a funeral pyre. Then, seeing that vaiśya's firm insistence, that courtesan constructed a pyre outside the village with pieces of wood. Then, when that pyre was ignited, that vaiśya, a devotee of Śiva, entered it. Seeing that vaiśya had entered the pyre, that courtesan Mahānandā, deeply grieving, in view of her vow of wifeliness for three nights, placed foremost the duty of a faithful wife, bestowed all her possessions upon the devotees of Śiva, circumambulated that fire three times, remembered Śiva, and prepared to enter that fire in order to follow her husband in death. At that moment, the Blessed Lord Śaṃkara manifested there in visible form, restrained her, declared that he had come in the form of a vaiśya to test her devotion, and led that courtesan Mahānandā, along with all the members of her household, to the world of Śiva. Of those remaining among the members of her household, that rooster and monkey who had been released from bondage at the time of the burning of the house and had fled far away, died in due course of time, and the monkey has now attained the state of the prince, while the rooster has attained the state of the minister's son—thus Parāśara related the account of the previous lives of the prince and the minister's son. ... 210