Varunapurana 8: aṣṭamo'dhyāyaḥ

Varuṇa spoke: / Formerly, the Lord went with the Goddess to the Dāruvana forest, / wandering, roaring, singing, naked, dancing, assuming the form of a madman.

Indeed, not knowing that nature of the Lord, the gods, / the eminent sages, and their fair wives watched him.

The sages [spoke]: / "Who is this madman walking naked, shameless? / Who is this young girl following him, amusing herself with playful games?

These two full of ego, like eminent Dānavas, should be tested! / When they say 'Alms!', women, you ought not to give!"

Tormented by desire, those women, under the pretext of giving alms, / embraced Śaṅkara and kissed his lotus-like face.

Seeing [this], the enraged sages cursed imperishable Śaṅkara; / [they hurled] tigers, serpents, and even exceedingly terrifying fire.

The Lord caught [them] playfully, and singing before them again, / Hara then walked about, embracing the Goddess.

Enraged once more, those great souls pronounced a curse: "Today, may your liṅga / fall upon the surface of the earth, painful with fangs, reviled throughout the worlds!

Because he wanders with his wife, shameless, afflicted by lust!" / Saying "So be it," [Śiva] caused it to fall [and said]: "And may this be worshipped by you!

Otherwise, let all your rites become fruitless! / For one who lacks worship of the liṅga, whether an oblation to the gods or an offering to the ancestors,

neither the eaters of oblations take the oblation, nor do the eaters of ancestral offerings take the ancestral offering, / O sages, just as [one would not take] dog meat for food!"

Having spoken thus, the trident-bearing Lord disappeared with the Goddess.
With the expansion of that liṅga, the sages residing there were bewildered.

They sought refuge with Brahmā, who resides in Satyaloka; / having gone, the sages, distressed in mind, praised the Lord.

The sages [spoke]: / "A certain naked man came, shaking the forest with a tremor, / bewitching women and children, wandering under the pretext of alms.

Our entire lineage is ruined, and we have fallen from our austerities!" / Hearing the words of the sages, Prajāpati uttered these words, alas:

Prajāpati spoke: / "Though the Lord was seen by you just now, through misfortune [and] / through ignorance of austerities, you have been deceived even while knowing liberation!

By whose sight a heap of austerities and a family becomes a noble family— / you fools, devoted to rituals, have minds bewildered by ignorance!

That liṅga of the god of gods, the trident-bearer, which has fallen: / worship the Supreme Lord with a tranquil mind,

having crossed over dreadful, impassable worldly existences and austerities." / Hearing this word of the Creator, making liṅgas of the trident-bearer,

taking the Pāśupata initiation, and wearing the tripuṇḍra, / adorned with garlands of rudrākṣas, devoted to chanting the five-syllable mantra,

chanting the mantras of the Śatarudrīya, pure in heart, / they did not turn away before the liṅga of the god of gods, Maheśvara.

All the dwellers of the Devadāruvana, entering, praised [him].

The sages [spoke]:

"O Hara, Śaṅkara, Bharga, Lord of beings, Destroyer of Smara, Hara, all-pervading, cause of all, / gracious one, bearer of the Gaṅgā, past and future, Śambhu, called Pavamāna, giver of dharma!

Whatever misdeeds have been collected by us, let them subside solely through your affectionate protection! / You are the remover of the sorrow of mundane existence for us, constantly granting the fruit of actions!

Your feet are to be served by all the immortals; constantly protect us, O Maheśa, god of gods! / For among people, children and the like revile their father, yet that very father protects them!

We ourselves are dull-witted wrongdoers, yet we must be protected like sons, for you are the father, O Lord! / Children indeed are overwhelmed and bewildered by childhood; / you are the forgiving father, and you alone are our refuge today!"

At these words, Hara himself appeared and spoke to the sages.
The Lord spoke: / "All offenses are forgiven, for the worship of the liṅga has been performed by you.

Even today, is there any impurity for me in a person who worships the liṅga?"

Having granted that divine knowledge and instructed them, he vanished. / When a man hears this excellent narrative

of the sages engaged in the Devadāruvana, he is freed from all sins.

Thus ends the eighth chapter, named "Entry into the Devadāru Forest," in the Vāruṇa secondary Purāṇa.