Skandapurana 3.3.6.35

3.3.6.35

.. ṛṣaya ūcuḥ .. ..
yaduktaṃ bhavatā sūta mahadākhyānamadbhutam ..
śambhormāhātmyakathanamaśeṣāghaharaṃ param .. 1 ..
bhūyopi śrotumicchāmastadeva susamāhitāḥ ..
pradoṣe bhagavāñchaṃbhuḥ pūjitastu mahātmabhiḥ .. 2 ..
saṃprayacchati kāṃ siddhimetanno brūhi suvrata ..
śrutamapyasakṛtsūta bhūyastṛṣṇā pravardhate .. 3 ..
.. sūta uvāca .. ..
sādhu pṛṣṭaṃ mahāprājñā bhavadbhirlokaviśrutaiḥ ..
ato'haṃ saṃpravakṣyāmi śivapūjāphalaṃ mahat .. 4 ..
trayodaśyāṃ tithau sāyaṃ pradoṣaḥ parikīrttitaḥ ..
tatra pūjyo mahādevo nānyo devaḥ phalārthibhiḥ .. 5 ..
pradoṣapūjāmāhātmyaṃ ko nu varṇayituṃ kṣamaḥ ..
yatra sarve'pi vibudhāstiṣṭhaṃti giriśāṃtike .. 6 ..
pradoṣasamaye devaḥ kailāse rajatālaye ..
karoti nṛtyaṃ vibudhairabhiṣṭutaguṇodayaḥ .. 7 ..
ataḥ pūjā japo homastatkathāstadguṇastavaḥ ..
karttavyo niyataṃ martyaiścaturvargaphalā rthibhiḥ .. 8 ..
dāridyatimirāṃdhānāṃ martyānāṃ bhavabhīruṇām ..
bhavasāgaramagnānāṃ plavo'yaṃ pāradarśanaḥ .. 9 ..
duḥkhaśokabhayārttānāṃ kleśanirvāṇamicchatām ..
pradoṣe pārvatīśasya pūjanaṃ maṃgalāyanam .. 3.3.6.10 ..
durbuddhirapi nīcopi mandabhāgyaḥ śaṭho'pi vā ..
pradoṣe pūjya deveśaṃ vipadbhyaḥ sa pramucyate .. 11 ..
śatrubhirhanyamāno'pi daśyamānopi pannagaiḥ ..
śailairākramyamāṇo'pi patito'pi mahāṃbudhau .. 12 ..
āviddhakāladaṇḍo'pi nānārogahato'pi vā ..
na vinaśyati martyo'sau pradoṣe giriśārcanāt .. 13 ..
dāridryaṃ maraṇaṃ duḥkhamṛṇabhāraṃ nagopamam ..
sadyo vidhūya saṃpadbhiḥ pūjyate śivapūjanāt .. 14 ..
atra vakṣye mahāpuṇyamitihāsaṃ purātanam ..
yaṃ śrutvā manujāḥ sarve prayāṃti kṛtakṛtyatām .. 15 ..
āsīdvidarbhaviṣaye nāmnā satyaratho nṛpaḥ ..
sarvadharmarato dhīraḥ suśīlaḥ satyasaṃgaraḥ .. 16 ..
tasya pālayato bhūmiṃ dharmeṇa munipuṃgavāḥ ..
vyatīyāya mahānkālaḥ sukhenaiva mahāmateḥ .. 17 ..
atha tasya mahībharturbabhūvuḥ śālvabhūbhujaḥ ..
śatravaścoddhatabalā durmarṣaṇapurogamāḥ .. 18 ..
kadācidatha te śālvāḥ saṃnaddhabahusainikāḥ ..
vidarbhanagarīṃ prāpya rurudhurvijigīṣavaḥ .. 19 ..
dṛṣṭvā niruddhyamānāṃ tāṃ vidarbhādhipatiḥ purīm ..
yoddhumabhyāyayau tūrṇaṃ balena mahatā vṛtaḥ .. 3.3.6.20 ..
tasya tairabhavayuddhaṃ śālvairapi baloddhataiḥ ..
pātāle pannagendrasya gandharvairiva durmadaiḥ .. 21 ..
vidarbhanṛpatiḥ so'tha kṛtvā yuddhaṃ sudāruṇam ..
pranaṣṭorubalaiḥ śālvairnihato raṇamūrdhani .. 22 ..
tasminmahārathe vīre nihate maṃtribhiḥ saha ..
dudruvuḥ samare bhagnā hataśeṣāśca sainikāḥ .. 23 ..
atha yuddhebhivirate nadatsu ripumaṃtriṣu ..
nagaryāṃ yuddhyamānāyāṃ jāte kolāhale rave .. 24 ..
tasya satyarathasyaikā vidarbhādhipateḥ satī ..
bhūriśokasamāviṣṭā kvacidyatnādviniryayau .. 25 ..
sā niśāsamaye yatnādaṃtarvatnī nṛpāṃganā ..
nirgatā śoka saṃtaptā pratīcīṃ prayayau diśam .. 26 ..
atha prabhāte mārgeṇa gacchantī śanakaiḥ satī ..
atītya dūramadhvānaṃ dadarśa vimalaṃ saraḥ .. 27 ..
tatrāgatya varārohā taptā tāpena bhūyasā ..
vilasaṃtaṃ sarastīre chāyāvṛkṣaṃ samāśrayat .. 28 ..
tatra daivavaśādrājñī vijane tarukuṭṭime ..
asūta tanayaṃ sādhvī mūhūrte sadguṇānvite .. 29 ..
atha sā rājamahiṣī pipāsābhihatā bhṛśam ..
saro'vatīrṇā cārvaṃgī grastā grāheṇa bhūyasā .. 3.3.6.30 ..
jātamātraḥ kumāro'pi vinaṣṭapitṛmātṛkaḥ ..
rurodoccaiḥ sarastīre kṣutpipāsārdito'balaḥ .. 31 ..
tasminnevaṃ krandamāne jātamātre kumārake ..
kācidabhyāyayau śīghraṃ diṣṭyā vipravarāṃganā .. 32 ..
sāpyekahāyanaṃ bālamudvahantī nijātmajam ..
adhanā bhartṛrahitā yācamānā gṛhegṛhe .. 33 ..
ekātmajā baṃdhuhīnā yāñcāmārgavaśaṃgatā..
umānāma dvijasatīdadarśa nṛpanaṃdanam.. 34 ..
sā dṛṣṭvā rājatanayaṃ sūryabiṃvamiva cyutam..
anāthamenaṃ kraṃdaṃtaṃ ciṃtayāmāsa bhūriśaḥ .. 35..

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: