Skandapurana 5.134

Sūta said:
Likewise, there is also another very beautiful reservoir there named Dīrghikā,
renowned in the world, the destroyer of all sins, (1)

in which a person who bathes properly towards the rising of the sun
on the fourteenth of the bright half of Jyeṣṭha is freed from all sins. (2)

Formerly there was a very famous twice-born named Vīraśarman,
who had completed his vows and Vedic study, in the excellent city of Vardhamāna. (3)

A daughter was born to him, who at some time was devoid of auspicious marks,
extremely tall in measure, increasing the laughter of people. (4)

Then, though that maiden attained youth with such a form,
no one chose her as a bride, remembering the injunction of scripture: (5)

“A man who, infatuated with desire, marries a maiden
who has very short hair, who is excessively tall, or who is excessively dwarfish, (6)

that man certainly meets death within six months.”
For this reason, all men shunned that maiden, (7)

seeing her endowed with extreme tallness on every side.
Then, having attained dispassion, she performed very fierce austerity. (8)

The cāndrāyaṇa penances and kṛcchra penances were performed by her many times,
as well as the pārāka penances and sāṃtapana penances as prescribed. (9)

Whatever vow, observance, and restraint existed,
and whatever other auspicious rite, all that was performed by her. (10)

Thus, while she was steadfast in vows, old age fully approached her;
yet the increase of luster produced by her austerity grew. (11)

And out of great curiosity she constantly went to the assembly of Mahendra
to hear the views of the celestial seers, and especially of the deities. (12)

Whenever she left her seat and set out facing towards her own home,
just then the attendants of Śakra performed sprinkling with water there. (13)

Then, on another day, O best of brahmins, that sprinkling upon her own seat was indeed seen being performed by her.

Then, her limbs overcome with rage, knitting her eyebrows into three furrows, that maiden Dīrghikā spoke to Puraṃdara:

“O Śakra, seeing what fault of mine has the seat been sprinkled by you? Was a fault committed through an alien path, or was this done by me anywhere?

Therefore tell me my sin; otherwise I shall bestow a terrible curse upon you without doubt. I swear by truth!”

Indra said: / “O Dīrghā, O auspicious one, there is no fault in you here, except for one; by reason of that, this sprinkling of the seat is performed.

Though a maiden, you have reached your fertile season, condemned [unmarried]. Therefore you have incurred fault; there is no other reason here.

Therefore, even today, if an ascetic marries you, choose him as your husband, through which you will attain purity.”

Filled with shame then, that tall maiden quickly went to the earth's surface, to the excellent city of Vardhamāna.

Then, raising her right hand and wandering here and there in public squares and crossroads, she began to call out aloud:

“If any brahmin by birth takes my hand in marriage right now, I will grant him the merit of half my austerity!”

Hearing her speaking thus day and night, the people, thinking she was mad, laughed at one another.

Then, after some days, Dīrghikā, crying out thus, was heard by a brahmin afflicted with leprosy.

Then, summoning the deeply grieved woman, he spoke softly:

“I will wed you today, taking your hand in marriage, if you always follow all my instructions.”

The maiden said: / “Without doubt I will carry out your word, O lord of brahmins. Take my hand in marriage today according to the rites seen in the ordinances.”

Sūta said: / Then he took the right hand of that maiden according to the rite prescribed in the householder manuals, in the presence of the gods, fire, and the preceptor.

Then, having completed the auspicious marriage ceremonies, she spoke again: “Give me a command, O my lord, which I may now fulfill for you.”

The husband said: / “O beautiful one, I wish to bathe in the sixty-eight sacred fords with your assistance. If you are able, do that.”

Saying “So be it,” that devoted wife quickly made a charming, sturdy bamboo basket of suitable measure,

furnished with soft cotton; and then, folding her hands in reverence, with a gladdened inner heart, she spoke to her husband:

“For your sake this charming bamboo basket has been made. O my lord, climb in quickly so that, placing it upon my head, I may carry you to all the sacred fords and very auspicious sacred fields.”

Then the leper, glad at heart, gently rose from the ground and, his body lifted by her, slept in the bamboo basket.

Then, placing him upon her head, she wandered at ease to all the sacred fords and through all the sacred fields, bathing her husband.

As the leper bathed in the sacred fords, so did the brilliance in his limbs increase.

Then gradually, wandering over the surface of the earth, that virtuous woman arrived at nightfall in the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara.

Exhausted, overcome with weakness, weighed down by the burden, that devoted wife was blinded by sleep, sighing, and stumbling at every step.

Now in that region, Māṇḍavya, the foremost among sages, was remaining in extreme agony, his body impaled on a stake.

Then that great virtuous wife, going at night afflicted by the burden, approached the stake with her body.

Jolted then by her, that foremost of sages, Māṇḍavya, experiencing intense torment, spoke in deep agony:

“By what sinful person has this stake been shaken inside me, whereby, though already full of misery, I have been made the seat of misery once more?”

Dīrghikā said: / “O illustrious one, because my sight was impaired by sleep, you were not seen by me; hence you were touched, O untouchable one, O greatest committer of sins!

There is no other sinful soul equal to you on the surface of the earth, who, even with a stake piercing out through your head, does not meet death!

O fool, I am a devoted wife carrying upon my head my beloved husband, who is deformed of limb, for the sake of a pilgrimage to sacred fords.

Why do you cast harsh insults at me, an unknown woman, you fool, and especially one born human?”

Māṇḍavya said: / “Just as I was described by you, exactly so am I, without doubt: a sinful soul, foolish-minded, and untouchable to all living beings.

Yet, O cruel woman, if this husband of yours—by whom intense pain, bringing an end to life, has been inflicted on me—lives in the morning,

then, cursed by me, this beloved of yours, touched by the rays of the sun, shall abandon life!”

Dīrghikā said: / “If such death will come to my husband at dawn, then at dawn the sun shall not rise!”

Having spoken thus, she set down upon the earth that bamboo basket with her husband and sat upon the ground.

Then that leper said to her: “Thirst has arisen; therefore bring very cool water for drinking.”

Hearing her husband’s command, eager [to serve], she wandered here and there, but saw no water; nor did she go far, abandoning him in such a state in the wilderness.

Feeling fear in her heart for her husband, arising on account of wild beasts, / she then sat down on the ground, touched her husband's feet, / and the tall woman, stricken with sorrow, spoke these words in a loud voice:

"If the vow of devotion to my husband has been truly and properly observed by me, / by that truth let auspicious water burst forth from the earth's surface!"

Having spoken thus, she then struck the earth with a kick of her foot, / prioritizing devotion to her beloved husband, out of a desire for his life.

At that moment, from that kick of her foot, an endless flow of water / came forth, clear and sweet, right before Māṇḍavya's eyes.

Then she bathed him, afflicted with exhaustion, in that water; / after that she gave him water to drink, and having bathed herself, she drank the water.

Meanwhile, the sun, out of fear caused by the devoted wife, / did not rise, and a great lapse of time ensued.

Then, observing the long night, lustful people— / all of them were filled with delight, and so were unfaithful women.

Owls, rākṣasas, and men who were thieves and paramours— / all of them, overjoyed, embraced one another and said:

"Today fate is pleased with us, as is Lord Kāmadeva, / by whom the night has been lengthened and the sun brought to destruction!"

Those peaceful brahmins, however, who were intent on sacrificial rites, / all fell into sorrow, deprived of the rising of the sun.

No one performed sacrifices, nor did any good twice-born officiate at sacrifices; / neither ancestral rites nor ritual resolves nor sacred recitation occurred at all,

nor ritual ablution nor gifting, especially ordinary worldly affairs, / commerce, or any duty arising from dharma.

Meanwhile, all the gods led by Śakra / fell into extreme distress, deprived of their portions of sacrificial offerings.

Then, approaching the sun, filled with grief, they said: / "O god, O maker of daylight, why do you not make your rising?

Without you, this entire world has fallen into confusion!

Therefore, for the welfare of the world, rise as before, / so that sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma may take place on the face of the earth."

The sun said: / "By the command of the devoted wife, my rising was abandoned by me. / Therefore, O gods, go all of you and speak to her on my behalf,

so that, obtaining her permission, I may proceed as I please; / otherwise, enraged, that devoted wife would surely curse me!

Endowed with such austerity, O best of gods, / she possesses exalted devotion to her husband, as well as another great [power].

Who is able to act contrary to her word? / Afraid for this reason, I do not rise by any means.

Those who sacrifice with a thousand rituals cannot attain that fruit / which a woman who has attained devotion to her husband obtains alone."

Then all those gods, having gone to that excellent sacred field, / stood before that tall woman and spoke to her with gentle words:

"O devoted wife, that the sun was forbidden by you was not well done, / since all auspicious rites on the earth's surface have been destroyed.

Therefore, O wise woman, let the hot-rayed [sun] rise at your word, / so that sacrificial rites in particular may proceed on the earth's surface."

The devoted wife said: / "And this husband of mine, who is dearer to me even than life— / he will meet his death, O gods, as soon as the solar orb has risen!

He was cursed by that wicked, exceedingly sinful Māṇḍavya, / ordained [to die] without even any fault. How, then, could I tell the sun [to rise]?

I have no need of sacrifices for the sake of the sunrise, nor of anything else— / of duties such as ancestral rites and gifts performed without my beloved."

Sūta said: / Then all those gods, looking at one another, / afflicted with great sorrow for a long time, spoke to her with humility:

"O auspicious one, let the sun rise; [though] this dear husband of yours / may meet death immediately, let this lord of sages [nevertheless continue].

We shall bring him back to life again quickly, / even though he has reached the path of death, for your sake, O lover of your husband!

You shall see him twenty-five years of age, like another Kāmadeva, / his limbs blazing with radiance, endowed with all auspicious marks.

Becoming fifteen years of age, your eyes long like lotus petals, / you shall fully attain happiness in the mortal world according to your desire.

This tiger among sages too, freed from sin now, O auspicious one, / released from impalement upon the stake, shall share in happiness without distress."

Sūta said: / When she had said 'So be it,' O best of the twice-born, / the blessed sun rose with speed at that very moment.

Then, touched by the sun's rays, the leper died; / but touched by the hands of the gods, he rose up once again,

twenty-five years of age, like another Kāmadeva, / remembering all of his previous birth, filled with joy.

The tall woman too, touched personally by the god Śambhu, / became endowed with youth, marked with divine characteristics,

having eyes like lotus petals, beautiful, with a face like the orb of the moon, / slender at the waist, very fair of limb, with full, elevated breasts.

Then, bringing that tiger among sages down from the tip of the stake, / the best of the gods spoke to him respectfully, filled with joy:

"This word of yours, O sage, has been made true as it was spoken: / the leprous brahmin died as soon as he was touched by the rays of the sun;

he has been raised up again by us and made youthful once more. / Therefore, go to your own hermitage together with this wife [of his].

Our darśana is never in vain under any circumstance; / therefore, ask for whatever is constantly lodged in your heart."

Thus ends the one hundred and thirty-fifth chapter, named 'The Attainment of the Boon by the Devoted Wife,' in the māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara sacred field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.