Skandapurana 3.3.23.23

3.3.23.23

22 atha śibabhaktimāhātmyapratipādaka puṇyamayapurāṇakathāpaṭhanaśravaṇavidhipūrvaka phalavarṇanam, purāṇaśravaṇamāhātmyavarṇanaprasaṃgena jārakarmapravṛttayorvidurākhya brāhmaṇādhamabindulākhyatatpatnyorvṛttāntavarṇanam, tatra jārakarmaṇā veśyāsaktena vidurākhyabrāhmaṇādhamena nityaṃ jāreṇa saha saṃgatāmapi kasmiṃścidekasmindine jāreṇa saha ratāsaktāṃ jāriṇīṃ svabhāryāṃ dṛṣṭvā tāṃ prati saṃtāḍya 'tvaṃ jārebhyo ratiṃ dattvā tebhyo dhanamādāya mahyaṃ veśyāyai dhanapradānāya dehi tenāhaṃ veśyāyāṃ ramiṣye tvaṃ jārai ramasva' ityuktyā pratidinamubhayorapyadhamayostayordurācāre pravṛttiḥ, itthaṃ kiyatā kālena tasya brāhmaṇādhamasya maraṇānaṃtaraṃ kiṃcidutkrāntayauvanāyāstasyā biṃdulākhyāyā jārotpannairnijaputraiḥ svakīyairbāṃdhavaiśca saha kadācitparvaviśeṣe gokarṇakṣetraṃ prati yātrārthaṃ gamanam, tatra gatvā kasmiściddevālaye paurāṇikena purāṇe vācyamāne tayā biṃdulayā
tasya paurāṇikasya mukhātpurāṇaśravaṇasamaye jārasaktānāṃ nārīṇāṃ smaramandire yamakiṅkarāḥ saṃtaptalohaparighaṃ kṣipanti ' iti yamayātanāvṛttāṃtaṃ śrutvā satatakṛta-
svakīyajāraduṣkarmasmaraṇasaṃtaptahṛdayayā tayā biṃdulayā rahasi taṃ paurāṇikaṃ brāhmaṇaṃ prati gatvā nijaduṣkarmapariśāntaya upāyajijñāsayā praśnakaraṇam, tatastena paurāṇikena tasyāḥ purāṇaśravaṇamātreṇa nijaghoravyabhicārapāpasmaraṇenātyugrayamayātanābhītāyā biṃdulākhyāyāḥ sāṃtvanapūrvakaṃ śivabhaktipuraḥsaraśivanāmamantroccāraṇapūrvaka śivabhaktipratipādaka purāṇakathāśravaṇopadeśakaraṇam, tatastayā bindulayā tasmādeva paurāṇikātsadguroḥ sakāśācchivabhaktivarddhakapurāṇakathāśravaṇam, purāṇaśravaṇaprabhāvāttasyā vindulāyāḥ śanaiḥśanai rajastamomaladhvaṃse jāte sati hṛdaye
śrīśaṅkarasya praveśaḥ, tataḥ pratidinaṃ tayā gurūpadiṣṭamārgeṇa śrīśaṅkarasya bhaktika-
raṇam, śrīśivabhaktiprabhāvāttayā nikhilakarmabaṃdhaṃ samācchidyānte śivalokaṃ prati
gamanam, tatra śivaloke śrīpārvatījagadambāyāḥ samīpe gatāyāstasyāḥ pārvatyā
saṃmānakaraṇam, tataḥ pārvatyāḥ sakāśānnijabhartuḥ piśācatvaprāptiṃ śrutvā tasya nijabhartuḥ piśācayonermokṣāya tayā tuṃbaruṃnāma gandharvaṃ prati viṃdhyaśaile sthitāya nijabhartre purāṇaśrāvaṇārthaṃ prārthanākaraṇam, tayā prārthitena tuṃbaruṇā viṃdhyaśailaṃ gatvā
taṃ piśācaṃ prati śrīgaurīpatikathāyāḥ śrāvaṇe kṛte tasya piśācatvaṃ prāptasya biṃdulā-
pateḥ piśācayonito muktipūrvakaṃ vimānamāruhya śivalokaṃ prati gamanavarṇanam ,
tatastayordaṃpatyoḥ śrīmaheśvarasadguṇagāyanena kaivalyamuktiprāptivarṇanam, śrīśivabha-
ktipratipādakabrāhmottarakhaṇḍapuṇyākhyānavaibhavavarṇanapūrvakaṃ brāhmottarakhaṇḍasamāptiva-
rṇanam. - .. - ... 213 2

22. Now, the description of the rules and fruits of reciting and hearing the meritorious Purāṇic tales that establish the greatness of devotion to Śiva; in connection with describing the greatness of hearing the Purāṇa, the account of the vile brahmin named Vidura and his wife named Bindulā, who were engaged in adultery, is related: there, that vile brahmin named Vidura, addicted to a prostitute through adulterous deeds, one day saw his adulterous wife passionately engaged in lovemaking with a paramour—though she consorted daily with paramours—and struck her, saying, 'Give pleasure to lovers, take money from them, and give it to me to provide money for the courtesan; through that, I shall enjoy the courtesan, and you may enjoy lovers'; by this agreement, both vile persons engaged in misconduct daily; thus, after some time, upon the death of that vile brahmin, that woman named Bindulā, whose youth was somewhat past, went on a certain auspicious festive occasion with her sons born of paramours and her relatives on a pilgrimage to the sacred field of Gokarṇa; having gone there, while the Purāṇa was being recited by a Purāṇa reciter in a temple, Bindulā heard from the mouth of that Purāṇa reciter the account of the tortures of Yama: 'The servants of Yama thrust red-hot iron bars into the private parts of women addicted to lovers'; her heart burning with constant recollection of her own adulterous misdeeds, Bindulā approached that brahmin reciter of the Purāṇa in secret and inquired about the means to expiate her evil deeds; then that reciter of the Purāṇa, having consoled Bindulā—who was terrified of the fierce tortures of Yama merely by hearing the Purāṇa and remembering her grave sin of adultery—instructed her to hear the Purāṇic narratives establishing devotion to Śiva, accompanied by devotion to Śiva and the chanting of the name and mantras of Śiva; then Bindulā listened from that very Purāṇa reciter, her true guru, to the Purāṇic tales that increase devotion to Śiva; through the power of hearing the Purāṇa, when the impurities of rajas and tamas were gradually destroyed in Bindulā, the revered Śaṃkara entered her heart; then, following the path instructed by her guru, she practiced devotion to the revered Śaṃkara daily; through the power of devotion to the revered Śiva, having severed all bondage of karma, she went at the end of her life to the realm of Śiva; there in the realm of Śiva, when she approached the revered Pārvatī, Mother of the Universe, she was honoured by Pārvatī; then, having heard from Pārvatī of her husband's attainment of the state of a piśāca, she made a supplication to the gandharva named Tumburu to recite the Purāṇa to her husband who dwelt on the Vindhya mountain, for the sake of his liberation from the womb of a piśāca; Tumburu, besought by her, went to the Vindhya mountain and recited the story of the Lord of Gaurī to that piśāca, whereupon the description is given of how Bindulā's husband, who had become a piśāca, attained liberation from the state of a piśāca and, mounting an aerial chariot, went to the realm of Śiva; then is described how the couple attained absolute liberation through singing the auspicious virtues of the revered Maheśvara; and the conclusion of the Brāhmottarakhaṇḍa is narrated, accompanied by the description of the majesty of the holy legend of the Brāhmottarakhaṇḍa that establishes devotion to the revered Śiva. ... 22