Skandapurana 4.3.67.5

4.3.67.5

the honey-drinkers sing, seized with delusion again and again; / therefore in the Purāṇas a verse is traditionally sung, / its meaning made clear by knowers of the Purāṇas who know the truth of the Wielder of the Pināka: / 'Where is meat, and where is devotion to Śiva? Where is liquor, and where is the worship of Śiva? / Śaṃkara stays far from those devoted to liquor and meat.' / Indeed, without the grace of Śiva, delusion is nowhere destroyed; / therefore these bumblebees, bereft of Śiva, wander about. / Seeing even the beasts living in the hermitage [acting] like sages, / the gods thus realized: 'This is the power born of the sacred field, / for all these beasts dwelling here are to be liberated by the Lord of the Universe / at the time of death through the teaching of the Tāraka mantra. / Whoever dwells here with firm resolve, knowing the māhātmya of the sacred field, / the Lord of the Universe carries across, whether alive or dead. / Wise humans, knowing the secret of Avimukta, are liberated; / even ignorant beasts, freed from sins, are liberated.' / While the gods, filled with such wonder, proceeded toward the sage's hermitage, / they rejoiced exceedingly once more upon seeing a flock of birds: / A male crane, resting his neck motionless upon the neck of a female crane— / we think he is not asleep, but truly meditating upon the Lord of the Universe!