Skandapurana 3.3.4.26

3.3.4.26

Sūta said: / Once again I shall speak of the supreme, wondrous glory of Śiva, / which destroys all sins for those who listen and releases them from the bonds of worldly existence. / For embodied beings drowning in the impassable ocean of wickedness, / no raft has been pointed out other than the worship of Śiva. / The wise man should always perform the worship of Śiva in this world; / if unable, he should view the worship that has been performed, his mind bowed with devotion. / Even one who performs the worship of Śiva, which grants liberation, without faith, / or merely views it, in course of time reaches the supreme abode. / In the Kirāta regions there was a king named Vimardana, / heroic, extremely unassailable, one who had conquered his enemies, and endowed with majesty. / Always addicted to hunting, stingy, pitiless, mighty, / an eater of all kinds of meat, cruel, surrounded by women of all castes. / Nevertheless, he constantly, without indolence, performed the worship of Śambhu, / especially on the fourteenth day of both the light and dark fortnights. / Having performed worship endowed with great magnificence, he rejoiced; / seized with great joy, he danced, praised, and sang. / As that all-devouring, ill-behaved king lived thus, / his queen was tormented by his conduct. / That queen, named Kumudvatī, who was endowed with good character and virtues, / once approached her husband in secret and asked him about it: / 'O king, this conduct of yours is a cause of great wonder! / Where is your great wicked conduct, and where is devotion to the supreme Lord? / You are always an omnivore, craving women of all sorts, / intent on all forms of violence, and cruel; how then do you have devotion to the Lord?' / Questioned thus, the king, having reflected for a long time, / knowing the three times, laughed and spoke to her, full of curiosity. / The king said: / 'In a previous life, O fair-faced one, I was a dog; / dwelling in the city of Pampā, I roamed about everywhere. / As time passed in this way in that best of cities, / I once went to a delightful temple of Śiva. / While worship was underway on that great tithi of the fourteenth day, / from afar, stationed at the outer gate, I watched the festival. / Then, chased by men with sticks in hand who were extremely angry, / I fled from that place, intent on saving my life. / Then, circumambulating the delightful temple of Śiva, / I reached the entrance again, and once again I was driven away. / Circumambulating that same temple of Śiva again, / out of greed for the balls of sacrificial food and the like, I approached the door once more. / Having thus made circumambulations there again and again, / while I sat in the entrance area, they struck me with sharp arrows. / With my limbs pierced, suddenly losing my life at the door of Śiva, / I was born into a line of kings through the power of Śiva's presence. / Because I witnessed the worship on the fourteenth day and looked upon the rows of lamps, / through that great merit, O lovely lady, I know the three times. / And due to the impressions of my previous birth, I am an omnivore and pitiless; / for the nature formed of past impressions is hard to overcome even for the wise. / Therefore on the fourteenth day I worship the Lord, the guru of the universe. / You too, O blessed one, worship the god Pinākin with faith.' / The queen said: / 'You know the three times, O king of kings, by the grace of the husband of Girijā; / you ought to tell me truly the story of my own previous birth.' / The king said: / 'In a previous life, you were a female pigeon flying in the sky; / somewhere or other, by chance, you obtained a piece of meat.