Skandapurana 5.157

Sūta said: / Having obtained the two pills from Bhāskara, who draws up the waters, / and having eaten after a long time, Puṣpa set out toward Vaidiśa.

Then, having arrived at Vaidiśa, Puṣpa, with a glad heart, / placed that white pill into his mouth, O best of twice-born.

That twice-born became identical to Maṇibhadra at that very moment. / When the other went along the market road, he then went to the house, / and hastily entered inside with a delighted heart.

Then he summoned that eunuch standing at the door; / having given him garments, he afterwards spoke to the eunuch:

'Eunuch, there is a certain man here who is an expert at disguises; / having assumed my appearance, he wanders through the entire town.

"Now he will come to my house to entice [you]. / He is in a disguise, and you must surely turn him away." / Having agreed with "So be it," [the eunuch] took his post at the doorway. (6)

Then Puṣpa spoke to the wife named Māhikā: / "Māhikā, today I saw your father standing before me, (7)

Vīrabhadra, sorely afflicted with grief, clad in dirty clothes. / Then in anger he spoke to me these harsh words: (8)

'Fie, fie on you, sinner! A girl always exceedingly beautiful, / having deceived her father, that slender-waisted one was married by you. (9)

Nothing was given to her father, nor to her, O son. / And you keep her like a widow, always wearing white garments, (10)

O sinful soul, and do not provide desirable food. / Therefore, surely give ten thousand gold coins to her father, (11)

and whatever ornament is desired by her according to her taste, / so that your wife, having attained supreme joy, may put it on. (12)

For a woman devoid of joy clearly does not bear a womb; / and a family without offspring falls even from heaven to the earth. (13)

Through you, a disgrace to your family, it will fall without doubt.' / Therefore, bring fine clothes from inside the house, (14)

which were given to me then by the king on account of [legal] proceedings, / along with the fivefold royal gift that was received by me. (15)

Put them upon your limbs, and quickly prepare tasty food; / I shall eat quickly with you, (16)

even from a single plate, without a doubt, according to his instruction." / She too, delighted, did everything just as he had spoken, (17)

providing food and clothing with an unquestioning mind. / Then Puṣpa, afflicted with desire, approached for sexual union. (18)

In the meantime, Maṇibhadra arrived, eager, / emaciated with hunger, tormented by thirst, eager for gain arising from business. (19)

As he eagerly entered the house, / he was turned away by that eunuch, being scolded again and again. (20)

As soon as he forcefully entered his own dwelling, / he was struck on the head by him with a wooden club. (21)

Then he collapsed to the ground, overcome by fainting; / afflicted by that blow, he did not know what to do at all. (22)

Then an uproar arose at the door of his house, / with people gathering and crying out in dismay. (23)

Some people asked him: "Fie, sinner! What is this that was done? / Was your livelihood destroyed by him, or are you possessed by an evil spirit, (24)

that you have brought him to this state? You have earned death from the king!" (25)

The eunuch said: / "My livelihood was not ruined by him, nor am I afflicted by an evil spirit. / Nor is this man Maṇibhadra; this is an impostor. (26)

Having assumed Maṇibhadra's form, he arrived to beg for money. / Entering by force, he was struck on the head by me. (27)

Maṇibhadra, having eaten, is resting upon his bed inside the house; / he stays there and does not know this situation that has occurred." (28)

Then Puṣpa too, hearing that uproar outside, / came to the doorway in the form of Maṇibhadra. (29)

He said: "This vile person constantly comes in my form; / he is some impostor, [coming] merely to beg for money. (30)

Even so, this eunuch did not act properly, / in that this hunchback, having approached to beg, was struck on the head." (31)

In the meantime, having fully regained consciousness, / he looked in front of him and saw a man just like himself. (32)

Looking at him on all sides, he then spoke these words: (33)

"Where has this thief, entered into my house in my form, / having corrupted the eunuch and given him two garments? (34)

Go away very quickly, before I go to the king's palace / and have you executed along with the eunuch!" (35)

Puṣpa said: / "Having assumed my form, you came to my house, / thinking it empty; then you discovered me staying in the house. (36)

Therefore I will hand [you] over to the king for execution, without a doubt. / Otherwise, go quickly, sinner, if you wish to live!" (37)

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, the two of them, fighting with each other in hand-to-hand combat, / were restrained with difficulty by other men. (38)

Then those kinsmen of Maṇibhadra who had arrived / could not discern any difference between the two as to which was Maṇibhadra. (39)

[It was like] the battle between Vālin and Sugrīva fighting for the sake of Tārā. / Thus disputing, their eyes red and wide with anger, (40)

they stood, surrounded by their kinsmen, having reached the royal gate. / Announced to the king by the door-keeper, they arrived at the assembly hall. (41)

Shouting 'Thief! Thief!' and desiring each other's death, / those two brahmins were looked upon by the king, O best of brahmins. (42)

There was no difference or distinction in the body of either one of them. / Then, with regard to past transactions, (43)

they were questioned about all private matters and especially about public ones; / both of them recounted what had happened, separately and accurately. (44)

Then, one of them was taken aside by all the kinsmen / and questioned about his entire lineage and family, and the second one after that. (45)

Everything was correctly explained by them in the exact same manner. / Then King Bṛhatsena spoke this to all of them: (46)

"Let that wife of Maṇibhadra be brought from the house; / she will be the authoritative witness in recognising her own husband." (47)

Then royal messengers, having gone, said to her: / "Come, identify your husband; you shall be the authoritative witness." (44)

Then she, filled with bashfulness, with her head veiled, / stood before the king and was addressed: "Accurately recognise your own beloved!" (49)

"We do not know with certainty, nor do these relatives of yours."

Then that excellent woman thought in her own mind:
"I was burned by Maṇibhadra, constantly plunged into the fire of jealousy.

Having deceived my father, I was taken afterwards;
and nothing was given by that sinner, after he had promised much wealth.

By this second man, however, happiness was brought to me in the mortal world,
having given varied garments and likewise ornaments.

And he will give to my father the gold that was agreed,
if I take the second Maṇibhadra with my own hand."

Having thus decided in her mind, seeing him drenched with blood,
she first [rejected] Maṇibhadra and then took the second.

And she then spoke words while all the people listened:
"I was given to this man by my father in marriage in the presence of the fire.

This second man, a villain, an impostor in disguise, has arrived,
and he solicits me in secret by various distinct means."

Then the king, enraged, ordered hanging from a branch
for that wicked-minded Maṇibhadra, O best of brahmins.

In the meantime, he was handed over to the executioners;
and being led to that tree, he then recited these verses:

"Cruelty, betrayal, especially deceitfulness,
impurity, and pitilessness are the innate flaws of women.

For inside they are full of poison, while attractive on the outside,
women are always indeed like the seeds of the guñjā berry.

The treatise that Uśanas knows, and that which Bṛhaspati knows,
and Manu and the others too—in comparison to the cunning of women, that is nothing.

Nectar dwells on the lower lip, [but] deadly hālāhala poison is in the heart;
therefore the lip is savored, and the heart is tormented.

Just as alaktaka dye is red, so is an impassioned man;
and drained of its essence, he too is cast down at the soles of her feet.

Of the poison-tree of worldly existence, whose flower is evil deeds,
and whose fruit is the agony of hell, a slender woman is called the root.

In whom does terror not arise upon seeing a woman even from afar?

A woman would show the wandering of worldly existence even at the first encounter,
under the mere pretext of circumambulating the fire.

These women, through ruthless and pitiless behavior at all times,
especially by their foolish acts, bring ruin upon the three lineages.

A woman, like the flame of a lamp, blackens by improper conduct
the mansion of the three lineages that has been made white by its own fame.

A whirlwind to the tree of dharma, the moon's radiance to the lotus of the mind,
a female crocodile in the ocean of desire, a stout bolt across [the door to] liberation—by whom was woman created?

A prison for the snare of lineage, a net in the forest of saṃsāra,
a great pit on the path to heaven—woman was made for men by the Creator.

Seeing no other bondage for men, the Creator
then made this extremely strong snare in the form of woman."

Thus in various ways he lamented, deeply sorrowful;
reflecting on women at length, he also reproached himself:

"Alas! Being foolish, the fruit born of worldly life was not obtained by me at all;
with a mind agitated by greed, nothing was ever given by me.

Even while great wealth was present, no virtuous deed was done by me;
never was a mantra recited, nor was an oblation offered into the fire.

Or rather, it was truly said by some great-souled person:
There has never been nor will there ever be a giver equal to a miser,
who, without even touching his wealth, gives it away to others.

What refuge is there for those who surrender? Do they kill like poison?
Riches are neither given away nor enjoyed by a miser.

Giving, enjoyment, and loss are the three destinies of wealth;
for him who neither gives nor enjoys, the third destiny occurs.

Rich men who have riches without giving are counted at the head of the destitute;
since it does not quench thirst, even the ocean is nothing but a desert.

Utterly worn out by good people who come and go day after day, completely exhausted,
wealth comes to the presence of misers and falls asleep here.

Misers do not get to enjoy the pleasures they have obtained, on account of their own deeds;
inflammation of the mouth indeed occurs for crows when the grapes are ripe.

One should give, one should enjoy when wealth is present; hoarding should not be done;
look here, others carry off the wealth accumulated by female bees.

What is begged is not given to an excellent brahmin; what is gathered is not employed in a great sacrifice;
that wealth preserved by a skinflint is enjoyed in the houses of thieves and kings.

Giving is an ornament for the wealthy; wealth is an ornament for the generous;
but separated from one another, wealth and giving are a mockery.

What is to be done with that fortune which is merely like a bride,
and which is not enjoyed even by travelers, like a common courtesan?

Human life might exist through the warmth of wealth without food,
since the earth itself is held up by the warmth of a miser.

By the favor of misers Śeṣa holds the earth,
because they put their wealth into the ground, and by its warmth [he supports it]."

While uttering words of many kinds in this manner, Maṇibhadra,
having been led by those men appointed by the king, speaking harsh words,
and while lamenting in many ways, was hanged from a tree branch.

Thus ends the one hundred fifty-eighth chapter, named 'Description of the Death of Maṇibhadra', in the Maṇibhadra episode within the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection in the glorious Skandapurāṇa.