Skandapurana 3.3.3.47.1

3.3.3.47.1

.. rājovāca .. ..
kiṃ dṛṣṭaṃ bhavatā brahmannāścaryaṃ pathi kutra vā ..
tanmamākhyāhi yenāhaṃ kṛtakṛtyatvamāpnuyām.. 1 ..
.. gautama uvāca .. ..
gokarṇādahamāgacchankvāpi deśe viśāṃpate ..
jāte madhyāhnasamaye labdha vānvimalaṃ saraḥ .. 2 ..
tatropaspṛśya salilaṃ vinīya ca pathiśramam ..
susnigdhaśītalacchāyaṃ nyagrodhaṃ samupāśrayam .. 3 ..
athāvidūre cāṃḍālīṃ vṛddhāmaṃdhāṃ kṛśākṛtim ..
śuṣyanmukhīṃ nirāhārāṃ bahuroganipīḍitām .. 4 ..
kuṣṭhavraṇaparītāṃgīmudyatkṛmikulākulām ..
pūyaśoṇitasaṃsaktajaratpaṭala satkaṭīm.. 5 ..
mahāyakṣmagalasthena kaṃṭhasaṃrodhavihvalām ..
vinaṣṭadaṃtāmavyaktāṃ viluṭhaṃtīṃ muhurmuhuḥ .. 6 ..
caṃḍārkakiraṇaspṛṣṭakharoṣṇarajasāplutām..
viṇmūtrapūyadigdhāṃgīmasṛggaṃdhadurāsadām .. 7 ..
kapharogabahuśvāsaślathannāḍībahuvyathām ..
vidhvastakeśāvayavāmapaśyaṃ maraṇonmukhīm .. 8 ..
tādṛgvyathāṃ ca tāṃ vīkṣya kṛpayāhaṃ pariplutaḥ ..
pratīkṣanmaraṇaṃ tasyāḥ kṣaṇaṃ tatraiva saṃsthitaḥ .. 9 ..
athāṃtarikṣapadavīṃ siṃcaṃtamiva raśmibhiḥ ..
divyaṃ vimānamānītamadrākṣaṃ śivakiṃkaraiḥ .. 3.3.3.10 ..
tasminravīṃduvahnīnāṃ tejasāmiva paṃjare ..
vimāne sūryasaṃkāśānapaśyaṃ śivakiṃkarān .. 11 ..
te vai triśūlakhaṭvāṃgaṭaṃkacarmāsipāṇayaḥ ..
caṃdrārdhabhūṣaṇāḥ sāṃdracaṃdrakuṃdoruvarcasaḥ .. 12 ..
kirīṭakuṃḍalabhrājanmahāhivalayojjvalāḥ ..
śivānugā mayā dṛṣṭā ścatvāraḥ śubhalakṣaṇāḥ .. 13 ..
tānāpatata ālokya vimānasthānsuvismitaḥ ..
upasṛtyāṃtike vegādapṛcchaṃ gagane sthitān .. 14 ..
namonamo vastridaśottamebhyastrilocanaśrīcaraṇānugebhyaḥ ..

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!"