Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 14
वसिष्ठस्याग्रतो यस्तु गायत्र्यष्टशतं जपेत् । आजन्ममरणात्पापात्सद्यो मुच्येत मानवः
vasiṣṭhasyāgrato yastu gāyatryaṣṭaśataṃ japet | ājanmamaraṇātpāpātsadyo mucyeta mānavaḥ
যে ব্যক্তি বশিষ্ঠের সম্মুখে গায়ত্রী মন্ত্র অষ্টশতবার জপ করে, সে জন্ম থেকে মৃত্যু পর্যন্ত সঞ্চিত পাপ থেকে তৎক্ষণাৎ মুক্ত হয়।
Sūta (deduced, Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Vasiṣṭha-sannidhi (Arbuda-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Nṛpa/King (addressed as rājān)
Scene: A pilgrim sits before the serene brahmarṣi Vasiṣṭha at a forest-ashram shrine in Arbuda; rosary in hand, sunrise light, sacred fire nearby, mountains behind.
FAQs
Mantra-japa performed with reverence in the presence of sanctity (a great ṛṣi and his āśrama) is portrayed as a swift purifier of karmic impurity.
The sacred space before Vasiṣṭha at his āśrama in the Arbuda Khaṇḍa setting.
Chanting the Gāyatrī mantra eight hundred times (gāyatryaṣṭaśata-japa) before Vasiṣṭha.