Skandapurana 6.3.211

Chapter 211 / Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / That wondrous deed of the god of gods done for the world, / I shall tell you all of that, for the dwellers on the banks of the Narmadā.

The god, having become a leper smeared with red fragrant ointments, / begged from the twice-born who had staked their good deeds, when the time of the śrāddha had arrived.

His limbs were oozing with blisters, covered with flies and worms, / having foul skin, a repulsive face, stinking, and stumbling at every step.

Going to a brahmin's dwelling, faltering at the door, he said this: / 'O master of the house, today a well-prepared meal with the brahmins

I wish to eat together with them in your house.' / Then, seeing that brahmin, [the guests] along with the sacrificer

oozing on all his limbs, said, 'Fie, fie!' / 'Get out at once, foul-smelling one, quickly from the house, O lowest of the twice-born!

This [food] prepared for all has become uneatable because of the sight of you!' / Saying only 'So be it,' the god of gods, Maheśvara,

went into the clear sky, being watched by the best of the twice-born. / When the god had vanished from sight, having bathed and sprinkled [water] all around,

as the twice-born ate, O king, each in his own dish, / wherever they looked, there were many worms.

Having seen that, they fell into astonishment, and all said, 'What is this?' / Then a certain brahmin, virtuous and unswerving, said this: 211.10

"With hesitation regarding the king of yogins in that great assembly of brahmins, / He who came here previously, that yogin is the Supreme Lord.

I think this is his sport, born of the ripening of his scolding; / the fruit comes from no other than a guest, according to the certainty of scripture.

The Supreme Self is truly worthy of worship, and especially a guest; / but whoever does not worship a guest who has arrived at the time of a śrāddha,

Piśācas and Rākṣasas undoubtedly snatch away his [merit]. / Whether handsome or deformed, filthy or wearing soiled garments,

Whether a lord of yogins or an outcaste, one should not scrutinize a guest." / Having heard his word, led by the patron of the sacrifice,

The brahmins ran in all directions to search for the twice-born man. / Meanwhile, somehow, by someone, he who had entered the deep forest

Was seen, and "Seen, seen!" was shouted; by that [shout] they all arrived. / Then they beheld that brahmin standing motionless like a post.

He did not weep, he did not move, he did not twitch, nor did he look. / Some spoke piteously, and others praised [him] likewise.

Being constantly praised with pleasing words, the Three-eyed One [was addressed]: / "O Lord of gods, especially for the brahmins afflicted by hunger, / whose food is all ruined, you ought to restore it."

Having heard the words of those brahmins, O Yudhiṣṭhira, / the god, pleased through supreme compassion, spoke to them indeed:

"O noble ones, by me, being pleased, that very food of yours has been turned into nectar; / let the brahmins eat together with kinsmen and servants, and let them constantly worship my maṇḍala."

Thence arose the auspicious abode of the trident-bearing God of gods, / renowned as Muṇḍin, which removes all sins, / especially on the full-moon day of Kārttika, equal to the sacred ford of Gayā.

Thus ends the two hundred and eleventh chapter, entitled "Description of the māhātmya of Muṇḍitīrtha," in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth book, Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.