Skandapurana 3.3.6

The seers said:
"The great and wondrous narrative that was spoken by you, O Sūta,
recounting the majesty of Śambhu, which removes all sins, is supreme.
We wish to hear that very same thing once more with attentive minds:
when the Lord Śambhu is worshiped at twilight by the great-souled,
what perfection does he bestow? Tell us this, O one of noble vows!
Even though heard repeatedly, O Sūta, our longing increases even more."
Sūta said:
"Well asked, O exceedingly wise ones, renowned throughout the world!
Therefore I shall declare the great fruit of worshiping Śiva.
The evening of the thirteenth lunar day is proclaimed as pradoṣa;
there Mahādeva must be worshiped by those desiring fruit, and no other deity.
Who indeed is capable of describing the majesty of pradoṣa worship,
wherein all the gods abide near the Lord of the Mountain?
At the time of pradoṣa, the Lord in Kailāsa, in his silver abode,
performs a dance, his rising virtues praised by the gods.
Therefore worship, recitation, oblations, stories of him, and praise of his virtues
must constantly be performed by mortals who desire the fruit of the four goals of life.
For mortals blinded by the darkness of poverty, fearful of worldly existence,
and sunken in the ocean of samsāra, this is a raft that shows the other shore.
For those afflicted by sorrow, grief, and fear, desiring the extinction of afflictions,
worshiping the Lord of Pārvatī at pradoṣa is the abode of all auspiciousness.
Even one of bad intellect, a base man, an unfortunate one, or a rogue,
having worshiped the Lord of the Gods at pradoṣa, is freed from calamities.
Even while being struck by enemies, or being bitten by serpents,
or being crushed by rocks, or fallen into the great ocean,
or smitten by the rod of death, or stricken by various diseases,
that mortal does not perish, because of worshiping the Lord of the Mountain at pradoṣa.
Poverty, death, sorrow, and a mountain-like burden of debt—
having dispelled them immediately, one is honored with prosperity through worshiping Śiva.
Here I shall relate an ancient, exceedingly holy legend,
hearing which all men attain the fulfillment of their aims.
In the realm of Vidarbha, there was a king named Satyaratha,
devoted to all righteousness, steadfast, virtuous, and true to his pledge.
While he ruled the earth according to dharma, O best of sages,
a long time passed in complete happiness for that great-minded one.
Then against that lord of the earth there arose Śālva kings,
enemies of arrogant might, led by Durmarṣaṇa.
Then on one occasion those Śālvas, having marshaled many soldiers,
arrived at the city of Vidarbha and besieged it, eager for victory.
Seeing that city being besieged, the ruler of Vidarbha
quickly marched out to fight, surrounded by a great army.
A battle took place between him and those Śālvas arrogant in their might,
like that between the lord of serpents in Pātāla and arrogant gandharvas.
Then that king of Vidarbha, having fought a most dreadful battle,
was slain at the head of the battle by the Śālvas, whose vast armies were destroyed.
When that heroic great chariot-warrior was slain along with his ministers,
the remaining broken soldiers fled from the battlefield.
Then, when the battle ceased and the enemy ministers shouted aloud,
while fighting was still occurring in the city and an uproar of noise arose,
a virtuous queen of that Satyaratha, the ruler of Vidarbha,
overcome with immense grief, departed somewhere with effort.
That king's pregnant wife, having departed with effort at night,
afflicted by sorrow, went toward the western direction.
Then, as morning broke, the virtuous woman, walking slowly along the road
after traversing a long path, saw a clear lake.
Having arrived there, the fair-hipped woman, scorched by intense heat,
took refuge beneath a shady tree blossoming on the shore of the lake.
There, by the power of destiny, in a secluded grove beneath the tree,
the virtuous woman gave birth to a son at an hour endowed with auspicious qualities.
Then that queen, stricken with severe thirst,
entered the lake, the fair-limbed woman, and was seized by a huge crocodile.
The prince, having just been born and now bereft of both father and mother,
wept loudly on the shore of the lake, feeble and tormented by hunger and thirst.
As that newborn prince was thus crying,
by good fortune a certain noble brahmin woman quickly arrived there.
Carrying her own one-year-old child,
she was destitute, bereft of a husband, and begging from house to house.
Having only one son, devoid of kinsmen, reduced to begging for alms,
that virtuous brahmin woman named Umā saw the prince.
Seeing that prince lying like a fallen orb of the sun,
helpless and crying, she thought at length:

"Ah, what a very great wonder has now been seen by me!
This infant's umbilical cord is uncut, and where has his mother gone?

There is no father, nor anyone else, nor are there any relatives.
Helpless and wretched, the infant lies upon the bare ground.

Is this child born of a cāṇḍāla, of a śūdra, or of a vaiśya?
Or is he the son of a brahmin, or born of a king? How can he be known?

Having lifted this child up, I would surely raise him like my own offspring,
and yet, not knowing his family, I do not dare touch this excellent [child]."

While that excellent brahmin woman was thus pondering,

a certain mendicant arrived, who was the god Śiva himself in visible form. / That best of mendicants then said to her: "O radiant brahmin woman, do not grieve.

Protect this child, O fair-browed one, casting out doubt from your heart. / For through him you shall attain the highest welfare here before long."

Having said this much, the compassionate mendicant quickly departed. / Then, when that mendicant had gone, the radiant brahmin woman, feeling confident,

took that infant and went straight to her own home. / Confident by the mendicant's words, that virtuous woman [took] the king's son

and out of compassion nurtured him like her own son. / Having made her dwelling in the delightful village named Ekacakrā,

she raised her own son and the king's son with food obtained by begging. / Both the brahmin woman's son and that king's son,

having had their sacraments performed by brahmins, grew up well-honored. / Having received the sacred initiation at the proper time, the two boys remained steadfast in vows.

Day after day they wandered there together with their mother for alms. / Once, together with those two boys, that brahmin woman,

wandering for alms, entered a temple by fate. / There, in the temple crowded with aged sages,

the wise sage Śāṇḍilya, seeing the two boys, said: / "Ah, the power of fate is wonderful! Ah, karma is insurmountable!

This child, having taken shelter with another mother, lives on begged food. / Having obtained this very brahmin lady as an excellent mother,

he has assumed the state of a brahmin along with the brahmin's son." / Hearing this word of the sage Śāṇḍilya, the brahmin woman,

having bowed in the midst of the assembly, asked with amazement: / "O brahmin, this infant was brought to my house at the word of a mendicant.

Though his lineage is unknown, even today he is raised like a son. / In what family was he born? Who is his mother? Who is his father?

I wish to know everything from you, whose eye is knowledge." / Thus questioned by the brahmin woman, that sage, endowed with the vision of knowledge, / recounted that boy's birth and past karma.

He revealed in full that he was the son of the king of Vidarbha, his father's death in battle, / and the carrying off of his mother by a crocodile.

Then that amazed woman questioned that sage once more: / "Abandoning all enjoyments, how did that king die in battle?

How has poverty befallen this boy, O great sage? / How, having shaken off poverty again, will he attain the kingdom?

You ought also to instruct a means to dispel the poverty / of this son of mine who lives only by food received as alms."

Śāṇḍilya said:

"That king of Vidarbha, the father of this boy,

was in his previous birth the lord of the Pāṇḍyas, an excellent king.

That king, knowing all duty, while protecting the entire earth,

once worshipped Śambhu at the time of dusk.

As he was worshipping the god, the lord of the three worlds, with devotion,

there arose everywhere in the city a great clamor.

Hearing that vehement sound, the king abandoned the worship of Śiva

and went out from the royal palace fearing a commotion in the city.

At that very moment, his minister of great might

captured an enemy vassal and came near the king.

Seeing the haughty enemy vassal brought by the minister,

the king, out of wrath, had his head cut off.

Having thus abandoned the worship of Śiva, that ruler of the earth,

his vow uncompleted, ate his food at night.

His son also did likewise: at the time of dusk, Śiva

he did not worship; foolish and intoxicated with pride, he ate and went to sleep.

In another birth, that king became the ruler of Vidarbha.

Due to the interruption of the worship of Śiva, he was slain by enemies in the midst of enjoyments.

The one who was his son in that past existence has become his son in this birth;

he has fallen into poverty because of the transgression against the worship of Śiva.

His mother in a previous birth killed her co-wife through deceit.

Due to that great sin, she was slain by a crocodile in this existence.

This course of events regarding them has been related to you.

Mortals who leave Śiva unworshipped fall into poverty.

I speak the truth, I speak what is beneficial for the other world, I speak the essence, I speak the heart of the Upaniṣads: / having obtained this fierce and unsubstantial saṃsāra, a living being's only essence is service to the lotus-feet of Īśvara.

Having obtained this dreadful, essenceless cycle of rebirth, this is a creature's essence: service to the lotus feet of Īśvara.

Those fools who do not worship the Mountain-Dweller at the time of dusk, / and those others who do not bow even to Śiva when he is worshipped, / nor drink in his story with the cups of their ears—those men become poor in birth after birth.

Fools who do not drink this discourse with the hollows of their ears—such men become poor in birth after birth.

Those who, at the time of dusk, with single-minded devotion perform the worship of the lotus-feet of the Supreme Lord,

they, even in this world, are constantly preeminent, endowed with ever-increasing wealth, grain, wives, sons, good fortune, and prosperity.

Having seated Gaurī, the mother of the three worlds, on a jewel-throne adorned with gold in the mansion on Mount Kailāsa, / when the Trident-Bearer desires to perform his dance, all the gods attend upon him at the time of dusk.

When the trident-bearer desires to perform his dance, all the gods attend upon him at the evening twilight.

The goddess of speech holds the lute; the hundred-sacrificer holds the flute; the lotus-born claps his hands to mark the beat; the divine Ramā accompanies with the practice of song;

Viṣṇu is skilled at playing the deep-sounding drum; standing all around, the gods serve that deity, the husband of Mṛḍānī, at the time of dusk.

The hosts of gandharvas, yakṣas, birds, serpents, siddhas, sādhyas, / vidyādharas, the foremost immortals, and apsarases,

and whatever other inhabitants of the three worlds there are, along with the hosts of spirits, stand at Hara's side when the time of dusk arrives.

Therefore, at dusk, Śiva alone is to be worshipped, and not others such as Hari and the Lotus-Born.

When that Great Lord is worshipped according to rule, all the lords of the gods are pleased.

This son of yours, in his previous birth, was an excellent brahmin.

he spent his life accepting gifts, not in good deeds such as sacrifices. (80)

Therefore, O noble brahmin lady, your son has fallen into poverty.

To remove that defect, let him take refuge in Śaṃkara. (81)

Thus ends the sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Pradoṣa', in the Brahmottarakhaṇḍa, the third [section] of the eighty-one-thousand-[verse] compilation of the glorious Skandapurāṇa. (6)