Skandapurana 3.3.3.47

The king said:
What wonder did you see on the way, O brahmin, and where?
Tell me that, so that I may attain fulfillment of purpose.
Gautama said:
As I was coming from Gokarṇa, O ruler of subjects, in a certain place,
when midday arrived, I reached a clear lake.
Having sipped water there and dispelled the fatigue of the journey,
I resorted to a banyan tree with very glossy and cool shade.
Then, not far off, an outcaste woman, old, blind, emaciated in form,
with a drying face, without food, tormented by many diseases,
her body covered with leprous sores, swarming with rising broods of worms,
her hips clad in an old rag sticking with pus and blood,
distraught with the constriction of her throat caused by advanced consumption lodged in her neck,
her teeth lost, incoherent, rolling [on the ground] again and again,
sprinkled with harsh, hot dust touched by the fierce rays of the sun,
her limbs smeared with feces, urine, and pus, unapproachable because of the smell of blood,
with immense suffering as her pulse weakened under phlegm-disease and heavy panting,
with disheveled hair and limbs, nearing death—I saw [such a woman].
And beholding her in such agony, I was overcome with compassion;
waiting for her death, I remained right there for a moment.
Then I saw a divine aerial chariot brought by the attendants of Śiva,
as though sprinkling the path of the sky with rays of light.
In that aerial chariot, which was like a cage of the splendors of the sun, moon, and fire,
I saw attendants of Śiva resembling the sun.
They indeed held tridents, skull-topped staves, chisels, shields, and swords in their hands;
they were adorned with crescent moons and possessed the great brilliance of the dense moon and jasmine;
shining with crowns and earrings, radiant with bracelets of great serpents—
four followers of Śiva, endowed with auspicious marks, were seen by me.
Looking at them standing in the aerial chariot as they arrived, deeply amazed,
I approached swiftly, drew near, and asked those who stood in the sky:
"Obeisance, obeisance to you, best of the thirty gods, followers of the glorious feet of the Three-Eyed One!"

[Obeisance] to those carrying out the protection of the three worlds, who wield trident, shield, sword, and mace. / I have indeed recognized you as attendants of the feet of Maheśvara. / Is this journey of yours for the purpose of protecting the world, or born of sport? / Or have you undertaken an effort to overcome the flood of sins of all people? / Tell me out of compassion, for what purpose have you arrived here? / The messengers of Śiva said: / "Before us is seen this old cāṇḍāla woman, on the verge of death. / We have come to fetch her, commanded by the Lord." / When told this by those messengers of Śiva, I asked them yet again, / my mind overcome with astonishment, standing with folded hands: / "Ah, how does this terrible, most sinful cāṇḍāla woman deserve / to ascend a celestial aerial chariot, like a female dog [entering] a sacrificial arena? / Impure almost from birth, sinful, an adherent of sin, / how do you wish to lead this woman of wicked conduct to the realm of Śiva? / She has no knowledge of Śiva, no extremely severe austerity, / no truthfulness, no compassion—how do you wish to take her? / Feeding on the flesh of beasts, her belly filled with liquor, / constantly delighting in injuring living beings—how do you wish to take her? / Nor has she repeated the five-syllable mantra, nor performed worship of Śiva; / nor was the Lord Śambhu meditated upon—how do you wish to take her? / She observed no fast on Śiva’s lunar day, nor did she perform worship of Śiva; / she knows nothing of goodwill to living beings, nor offering of bilva leaves to Śiva, / nor Vedic sacrifices, charitable works, and the like—how do you wish to take her? / Neither has she bathed at sacred fords, nor given gifts, / nor undertaken vows—how do you wish to take her? / She ought to be avoided at the mere sight, not to mention in conversation; / destitute of the company of the good, fierce—how do you wish to take her? / Or is there any good deed of hers acquired in another birth? / Then why is she overcome by leprosy and worms? / Ah, this course of the Lord is incomprehensible to embodied beings, / when even sinful souls are taken to the supreme abode out of compassion!"

Thus addressed by me, those messengers of the God of gods, the trident-wielder, / dispelling all doubts, then answered me with affection. / The messengers of Śiva said: / "O brahmin, listen to a very great marvel, if you have curiosity, / regarding what you have now said concerning this cāṇḍāla woman. / In a previous birth she was a certain brahmin girl / named Sumitrā, whose face was like the full disk of the moon, / whose bodily characteristics were delicate like a garland of blooming jasmine, / the chaste daughter of a certain foremost brahmin of the Kaikeya country. / Seeing her growing up in her father's house, endowed with all auspicious marks / like a second embodiment of Rati, people were astonished. / Day by day she grew, pampered greatly by her relatives; / slowly she attained youth, like the great bow of the God of Love. / Then that young maiden was given according to rule by her father, / joined by his relatives, to a certain brahmin's son. / Having obtained a husband, possessing fresh youth, / of good conduct, she enjoyed herself for some time surrounded by relatives. / Then, through the power of time, her husband, afflicted by severe disease, / though endowed with beauty and youth, met his death, O sage. / When her husband died, being a chaste woman whose heart was burned with sorrow, / she lived for a few months well-behaved, with conquered senses. / Then, through the constantly developing burden of youth, / her heart became agitated by Kāmadeva. / Kept hidden by her circle of relatives, though instructed by the most eminent, / that woman was unable to restrain her mind, captivated by love. / Filled with intense desire, endowed with beauty and youth, / though a widow, she became especially devoted to the path of lovers. / Known by no one at all to be an unchaste woman, being clever, / that worst of women concealed her own misconduct for some time. / Overcome with pregnancy cravings, her breasts with thick, dark nipples, / in time even her circle of relatives realized she had been defiled by a paramour.

Terrified of great reproach, [her family] fell into insurmountable anxiety: / 'Women are ruined by lust; brahmins by serving the low; / kings by a brahmin's curse; ascetics by accumulating sensory pleasures; / similarly, food licked by a dog, or milk into which wine has been poured; / beauty afflicted by leprosy; a family is destroyed by a bad woman.' / Reflecting thus together, the brothers of her husband, united,