Skandapurana 4.66.44

4.66.44

.. skaṃda uvāca .. ..
ilvalāre kathāmekāṃ śṛṇuṣvāvahito bhava ..
varaṇāyāstaṭe ramye yadvṛtta pūrvamuttamam .. 33 ..
ekadādrīṃdramālokya menā saṃhṛṣṭamānasam ..
umāṃ saṃsmṛtya niḥśvasya provāceti pativratā .. 34 ..
.. menovāca .. ..
āryaputra na jānāmi pravṛttimapi kāṃcana ..
vivāhasamayādūrdhvaṃ tasyā gauryā girīśvara .. 35 ..
sa vṛṣeṃdragatirdevo bhasmoraga vibhūṣaṇaḥ ..
mahāpitṛvanāvāso digvāsāḥ kvāsti saṃprati .. 36 ..
aṣṭau yā mātaro dṛṣṭā brāhmī prabhṛtayaḥ priya ..
svasvarūpāstā manye'haṃ bālikāḥ kaṣṭahetavaḥ .. 37 ..
tasyaikasya na kopyanyostyadvitīyasya śūlinaḥ ..
tadudaṃtapravṛttyai ca kriyatāmudyamo vibho .. 38 ..
tasyāḥ priyāyā vākyena tadapatyapriyo giriḥ ..
uvāca vacanaṃ sāsramumā vātsalyasannagīḥ ..39..
.. girirāja uvāca .. ..
ahameva gamiṣyāmi tasyā mene gaveṣaṇe ..
nitarāṃ bādhate prema tadadṛṣṭyagnidūṣitam ..4.2.66.40..
yadā prabhṛti sā gaurī nirgatā mama sadmataḥ ..
manye mene tadārabhya padmasadmā viniryayau .. 41..
tadālāpāmṛtadhayau na me śabdagrahau priye ..
prāṇeśvari tadārabhya syātāṃ śabdāṃtaragrahau .. 42 ..
jaivātṛkī yatohnaḥ syāddūrībhūtā dṛśormama ..
aho jaivātṛkī jyotsnā tatohnoti dunoti mām .. 43 ..
ityuktvādāya ratnāni vāsāṃsi vividhāni ca ..
dharādhareṃdro niryātaḥ śubhalagnabalodaye .. 44

Skanda said:
O foe of Ilvala, listen attentively to a story
of the splendid event that happened previously on the charming bank of the Varaṇā. / 33
Once, seeing the king of mountains whose mind was delighted,
Menā, that devoted wife, remembered Umā, sighed, and spoke thus: / 34
Menā said:
Noble lord, I know no news whatsoever
of that Gaurī since the time of her wedding, O king of mountains. / 35
That god whose gait is like that of a bull, adorned with ashes and serpents,
whose home is the great cremation ground, who is clad in the quarters—where is he now? / 36
O beloved, those eight mothers that were seen, beginning with Brāhmī,
the little girls having their forms, I consider them to be causes of distress. / 37
To him, the one and only trident-bearer without a second, there is no one else;
therefore, O lord, let an effort be made to obtain news of her. / 38
At these words of his beloved, the mountain who was affectionate toward his child,
his voice failing with affection for Umā, spoke tearfully: / 39
The king of mountains said:
O Menā, I myself will go in search of her;
my love, afflicted by the fire of not seeing her, troubles me excessively. / 40
From the day that Gaurī departed from my home,
I consider, O Menā, that the goddess dwelling in the lotus has departed since then. / 41
O dear wife, my ears, which once drank the nectar of her conversation,
have since then, O mistress of my life, been capturing other sounds. / 42
Since she who was like the full moon to my eyes has become distant,
alas, the moonlight, which sustains life, torments and distresses me from that day. / 43
Having spoken thus, taking jewels and various garments,
the lord of mountains departed at the powerful rising of an auspicious lagna. / 44