Skandapurana 5.62

Sūta said: / Having formed this resolve, O best of twice-born, / the king did not abandon that poison-maiden, even though advised to do so by astrologers. / And though offered with love, no king would take her.

Because she spat out comfort for her own father, / she therefore became widely renowned on earth as Śarmiṣṭhā.

In the meantime, the enemies of that lord of the earth, / filled with rage, harassed his realm on all sides.

Then that king, infuriated and surrounded by his army, / marched out from his residence for battle, having resolved upon death before retreating.

Then, having met those enemies, he waged a great battle / with his fourfold army, increasing the realm of Yama.

And then, when the tenth day arrived, that ruler of the earth / was slain by all the enemies, who had encircled him on all sides.

Then those men of that lord of men who survived the slaughter / fled swiftly in grief toward their own city, afflicted by fear.

All those hosts of enemies as well, exultant and eager to conquer, / besieged that city in order to destroy his sons.

In the meantime, all the citizens, given over to grief, / reviled that wicked poison-maiden with harsh words:

'By the fault of this sinful girl the ruler of the earth is dead, / and through the destruction of the realm, the ruin of the city will take place.

That king was previously told by wise brahmins: / "Abandon this despised poison-maiden full of many evils." / The word of those well-wishers was not heeded by him, / that great-souled man bound by cords of affection and filled with pity.

Therefore, even today, let this sinful girl be slain at once, / or let her be driven out of this city before the destruction of the city occurs!'

Sūta said: / Hearing those various reproaches uttered by the people, / she fell into supreme detachment and censured herself:

Then, having departed in the night, filled with fear and grief, / she set out upon reaching the forest, resolved upon death.

Then she beheld the great sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, / crowded with ascetics and supremely gladdening to the mind.

Then memory of her past birth arose in her: / 'Formerly, when I was a Caṇḍāla, I quenched the thirst of a single cow.

By the power of that, I was born in the most holy palace of a king / through the power of this sacred field; therefore, my stay shall be right here.'

Sūta said: / Indeed, in another body she was a reviled Caṇḍāla woman, / bearing many children and distressed by poverty.

Then, wandering about, she arrived at this sacred field afflicted by thirst, / when the sun was at midday in the terribly harsh month of Jyeṣṭha.

Then she saw a small shallow well with little water, / and near it, a tawny cow afflicted by thirst.

Then, resorting to compassion, abandoning her affection for her children / and likewise her own life, she quenched the thirst of the cow.

And in the absence of water, she, along with all her children, / reached the abode of Yama, her mind steadfast in devotion to the cow.

Then she was born in the house of a king by the power of that, O best of twice-born; / through the fruition of past karma, she became a poison-maiden.

The seers said: / Through the fruition of what karma did she become a poison-maiden / who brought about the destruction of her own family? Tell us all, O Sūta!

Sūta said: / O brahmins, while living and wandering as a Caṇḍāla woman, / she saw an auspicious golden image of Gaurī in a temple.

Then, having taken it in a solitary place and gone to another country with delight, / as the highly despised woman was cutting it into pieces to sell it, / royal servants arrived searching for it.

Then, seeing her, threatening her repeatedly, / and beating her with blows of sticks, clods of earth, and fists,

they took the gold and, abandoning her drenched in blood, / thinking 'She is a woman and should not be killed,' they went to their own city.

Because Pārvatī was touched by her and then cut into pieces, / through the fruition of that karma she was born as a poison-maiden.

Then, regaining the memory of her past birth / and considering the majesty of the gift of water drunk by a cow, / she built a pond with pure water in the place of that small well,

resembling an ocean, beautiful, adorned with lotus beds, / teeming with fish and tortoises, and shining with dolphins,

resorted to on all sides by many swans, cranes, and cakra birds, / unfathomable in depth, holy, and frequented by aquatic creatures.

Having a temple built near it, lovely and charming to the sight, / resembling the peak of Kailāsa, with supreme devotion,

she then performed austerities there, having installed Gaurī with devotion, / and undertaking before her the vow prescribed according to the scriptures.

Bathing in the morning during the Hemanta season and worshipping Gaurī with devotion / through offerings of bali, worship, gifts, and donations to brahmins,

and then, when Śiśira arrived, composed in mind morning and evening, / the king's daughter performed her bath while observing alternate-day fasts.

In spring she pleased Pārvatī with dances and songs; / eating at the sixth mealtime, the virtuous woman devoted herself to giving grain. 38

Practicing the five fires in summer, eating only fruit, / the ascetic daughter of the king of Vṛka performed [her rites] endowed with faith. 39

And during the rains, that poison maiden, subsisting only on water, / abandoned her hut and made her bed in the open sky. 40

Feeding only on air, the chaste woman then spent the autumn / constantly devoted to recitations, her mind fixed on Pārvatī. 41

As she thus worshipped the goddess, the daughter of the mountain, / a very great time passed, but she did not obtain the desired fruit. 42

Her face was overcome with wrinkles, her head was marked with gray hair, / yet though she remained in the state of maidenhood, the beloved of Hara was not pleased. 43

Then at some time, solely for the purpose of testing her, / she took the form of Śakrāṇī and came into her view. 44

Mounted upon a great elephant, white as nectar, radiant like the sun, resembling the peak of Kailāsa, / with a long hanging trunk, in rut, and endowed with four tusks, 45

surrounded in all directions by the wives of the gods, / wearing a diadem on her head, adorned with necklaces and armlets, 46

with a white umbrella held over her head, / served by apsarases and praised by kinnaras, 47

and sung about by gandharvas, she then said respectfully: / “I grant you a boon, daughter; ask whatever you desire! 48

Pleased now by this abundant tapas of yours, / I, the wife of the lord of the gods, celebrated as Śacī, / have arrived in person across the three worlds out of compassion for you. 49

A great tapas has been performed by you while meditating on the beloved of Hara; / yet Bhavānī, being very harsh, has not been pleased by [your] tapas.” 50

Sūta said: / Hearing that speech of Śakrāṇī, the poison maiden, / having bowed, standing with folded hands, then spoke to her: 51

The poison maiden said: / “O goddess, I do not ask for a boon from you in any way; / nor, Indrāṇī, undoubtedly, from other deities. 52

Even if I go to the terrible hell, O beloved of Indra, / it shall be by the command of the beloved of Hara, not to heaven by your command! 53

Without beginning, middle, or end, endowed with knowledge and sovereignty, / she is the goddess worshipped by the gods; I choose a boon from her! 54

She whom Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Rudra, and Indra constantly worship / for their desired ends—from that goddess I choose a boon! 55

By whom, the goddess, all this threefold world of moving and unmoving things is pervaded / through diverse female forms—from her I choose a boon!” 56

The holy goddess said: / “I am the wife of the lord of the gods, dearer [to him] than life; / the gods, Dānavas, and serpents obey my command! 57

As do kinnaras, Guhyakas, and yakṣas—what then of mortals? / Therefore, why do you not receive a boon from me, you wicked ascetic? 58

Surely, then, I will shatter your head with a blow of the vajra!” / Hearing that speech of hers, O twice-born ones, the female ascetic then, 59

relying on fortitude, spoke once more to the queen of the gods: / “You are indeed the mistress of the gods; this is true without doubt. 60

I please the Supreme Goddess from whom your sovereignty has been obtained. / I have not committed even the slightest offense toward you, O queen of the gods! 61

Even so, if you deem me fit to be killed, cast your weapon! / Hear also another word from me with care, O Śakrāṇī: 62

having heard it, reflect in your mind and then do whatever is best. / Neither you, nor your husband Indra, nor other gods and asuras / are able to destroy me, who have sought refuge in Pārvatī! 63

Therefore, go quickly to heaven; do not become angry in vain / toward me who abide on the good path, O mistress of all the gods!” 64

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus to Śacī, the sorrowful poison maiden, / resolved on death, reflected on this: 65

“Since the goddess, the daughter of the mountain, is not pleased with me, / therefore, if this Śakrāṇī will not kill me, 66

then surely I will quickly resort to the blazing fire!” / Then in a mere moment she saw that elephant Airāvaṇa 67

suddenly turn into a bull resembling milk, a jasmine flower, and the moon; / and atop it, the goddess Pārvatī standing together with Śambhu, 68

four-armed, with a gracious face, endowed with a divine form, / wearing white garlands and garments, with the crescent moon on her head. 69

Then, beholding fully and recognizing her as the daughter of the mountain, / the poison maiden bowed repeatedly and offered praise: 70

“Homage to you, ruler of the god of gods! Homage to you who dwell in all! / Grantor of all desires, truth itself, devoid of old age and death! 71

Even the gods, Indra and the rest, do not know in ultimate truth / how to describe your true nature; what then of a human woman, O goddess? 72

For she whose limbs have given rise to the entire cosmic egg, / consisting of earth, space, water, fire, and wind, along with gods, asuras, and humans, 73

Brahmā is not [sufficient] for her birth, Maheśvara not for her destruction, / nor Govinda for her preservation; how then shall I praise you? 74

Likewise, she whose supreme eightfold sovereignty is natural [to her], / surpassing all others in the world, and ever most desirable; 75

whose manifold forms the sages, wholly devoted to true meditation, / contemplate with devotion and attain their desire; 76

having formed whose image in their heart, yogins worship with meditation, / with flowers made of pure devotion, resolved upon liberation— 77

how, being a human woman, can I praise that goddess, the Great Sovereign?” 78

The goddess said: / “I am well pleased with you, daughter! Ask for a boon, O woman of virtuous vows! / Without doubt, I will grant what ever resides in your heart.” 79

The poison maiden said: / “This exertion of tapas was undertaken by me for the sake of a husband, O goddess; / what shall I do with that now, covered as I am with old age?” 80

"Therefore, at my word, O Pārvatī, you must always dwell
here in this hermitage for the welfare of all women."

The goddess said:
"From this day forward, gentle lady, in this excellent and auspicious hermitage,
I shall make my own hermitage, as rests in your heart.

Whatever woman takes a ritual ablution here on the third lunar day of the bright half of Māgha
shall obtain the desired fruit by my grace.

Even if having committed a great sin, a woman or a man
who bathes here shall become freed from sin by my grace.

Whatever people give gifts of fruit here,
all their desires will bear fruit; of this there is no doubt.

Even if having slain a woman, a mortal who bathes here
on the third lunar day of the bright half of Māgha shall become freed from sin.

Whatever maiden, O gentle one, bathes there with devotion
on that day shall obtain an excellent husband; of this there is no doubt."

Sūta said:
Having spoken thus, Gaurī then touched her with her hand;
and from that very moment, she took on a celestial form and body.

Free of old age, adorned with heavenly garlands and unguents,
with full and high breasts, walking like an intoxicated elephant,

taking her and making her her own handmaid,
she then went with Hara to Kailāsa, the best of mountains.

From that time forward, that sacred ford is called the Śarmiṣṭhātīrtha,
renowned in the three worlds, destroying all sins.

Therefore, with every effort one should perform ritual ablution there
on the third lunar day of the bright half of Māgha according to rule, O best of brahmins.

This māhātmya of the sacred ford of women, productive of longevity,
purifying, and destroying all sins, which has been spoken by me for men—

the person who rises early in the morning and recites this always
continually attains all desires wished for in the mind.

Likewise, when a sacred day arrives, the man who recites this
or listens with devotion swiftly goes to the abode of Śiva.

Thus ends the sixty-second chapter, named the Description of the Māhātmya of Śarmiṣṭhātīrtha, in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Śrī Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section] of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.