Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9
कलेर्युगं महाघोरं प्राप्य पापसमन्वितम् । नान्येनाऽस्मिन्नुपायेन धर्म्मः स्वर्गश्च लभ्यते । विना यात्रां महादेवि सोमेशस्य न संशयः
kaleryugaṃ mahāghoraṃ prāpya pāpasamanvitam | nānyenā'sminnupāyena dharmmaḥ svargaśca labhyate | vinā yātrāṃ mahādevi someśasya na saṃśayaḥ
In diesem überaus schrecklichen Kali-Zeitalter, das von Sünde durchdrungen ist, werden hier weder Dharma noch Himmel auf anderem Wege erlangt. Ohne die Pilgerfahrt zu Someśvara, o Große Göttin, daran besteht kein Zweifel.
Skanda (addressing Mahādevī/Devī; deduced from vocative and Purāṇic dialogue)
Tirtha: Someśvara (Somanātha) at Prabhāsa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mahādevī
Scene: A darkened landscape symbolizing Kali-yuga—figures burdened by chains labeled ‘pāpa’—contrasts with a radiant coastal temple of Someśvara; a path of light leads pilgrims to the liṅga, while Devī listens to the proclamation.
FAQs
In Kali-yuga, pilgrimage is upheld as a decisive, grace-filled path to dharma and heavenly merit when other disciplines are difficult to sustain.
Someśvara at Prabhāsa (Prabhāsakṣetra), a major Śaiva locus in the Skanda Purāṇa.
The prescription is yātrā (pilgrimage) specifically connected with Someśvara; it is presented as essential in Kali-yuga.