Skandapurana 3.3.7.99.6

3.3.7.99.6

One should refrain from everything else rather than steal Śiva's property. / In the Purāṇas and in the Smṛtis, expiations are seen / for sins such as killing a brahmin, but not for those who steal Śiva's property. / What is the use of saying much on this matter? I state it in half a verse: / Worship of Śiva destroys even a hundred killings of a brahmin. / This worship of Śiva at twilight (pradoṣa) has been told to you by me, / the secret for all living beings; there is no doubt about this. / Let worship be performed in this manner even by these two boys; / from this, in just one year, you will attain supreme perfection." / Having heard these words of Śāṇḍilya, the brahmin woman, / together with those two boys, bowed down at the sage's feet. / The brahmin woman said: / "Today I have achieved my life's purpose merely by seeing you. / O venerable one, these two boys have gone to you alone for refuge. / O brahmin, this is my son, called Śucivrata; / this one is a prince, named Dharmagupta by me. / These two and I, O venerable one, are the servants of your feet; / rescue us who have fallen into this dreadful ocean of poverty." / Having thus comforted with words sweet as nectar the brahmin woman who had sought refuge, / the sage then instructed those two boys in the knowledge of the mantra for worshipping Śiva. / Then, instructed by the sage, the two boys and that brahmin woman, / having bowed to him and taken their leave, departed from the temple of Śiva. / From that time onward, those two boys, by the instruction of the excellent sage, / readily performed the worship of Pārvatī's lord at twilight. / As the brahmin boy and the prince were thus worshipping the god, / four months passed for them in utter happiness. / Once, without the prince, that son of the brahmin / went to bathe on the riverbank and wandered about in playful delight. / There, in an embankment wall split open by the torrent of a waterfall, / he saw a large, glittering treasure jar.