Skanda Purana 7.18.89_260

7.18.89_260

963
sanatkumāra uvāca
brahmādyā devatā vyāsa dakṣayajñavadhe purā .
śaṅkaraṃ śaraṇaṃ1 jagmurvīrabhadrabhayārditāḥ . .1 . .
gaṇendreṇābhiyuktāstu2 bhasmakūṭāni bhejire .
yadā bhasma praviṣṭāste3 tejaḥ śāṅkaramuttamam4 ..2. .
abhavaṃste tadā raudrāḥ5 paśavo dīkṣitā iva .
bhasmābhasitagātrāṇāṃ6 śaṅkaravratacāriṇām . .3 ..

963
Sanatkumāra said:
Long ago, Vyāsa, at the destruction of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, the deities headed by Brahmā, / afflicted with fear of Vīrabhadra, went to Śaṃkara for refuge. / Assailed by the lord of the gaṇas, they took refuge in heaps of ashes. / When they entered the ashes, the supreme splendour of Śaṃkara, / they then became fierce, as if initiated beasts. / To those whose limbs were smeared with ashes and who were observing Śaṃkara’s vow,