Adhyaya 96
Mārkaṇḍeya instructs a royal interlocutor to go to the supreme tīrtha called Koṭīśvara. The chapter establishes the site’s sanctity by recalling that a “crore of ṛṣis” (ṛṣikoṭi) once assembled there, an archetypal gathering that confers authority upon the pilgrimage place. It further relates that eminent sages, after consultation with learned dvijas who recited auspicious Vedic passages, installed Śaṅkara—Śiva’s liṅga-presence—there for the welfare and protection of beings. The shrine is praised as a remover of bondage and a cutter of saṃsāra, easing the distress of living creatures. A specific observance is emphasized: devotional bathing (snāna) on the full-moon day, especially on Śrāvaṇa Pūrṇimā. After tarpaṇa and properly performed piṇḍadāna, the pitṛs are said to attain inexhaustible satisfaction lasting until cosmic dissolution. The chapter concludes by declaring the Revā riverbank location a “secret” and supreme ancestral locus, built by sages and described as granting mokṣa to all beings.
Shlokas
Verse 1
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । ततो गच्छेत्तु राजेन्द्र तीर्थं कोटीश्वरं परम् । ऋषिकोटिः समायाता यत्र वै कुरुनन्दन
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Then, O lord of kings, you should go to the supreme sacred ford called Koṭīśvara—O delight of the Kurus—where a ‘crore of sages’ once assembled.”
Verse 2
कृष्णद्वैपायनस्यैव क्षेमार्थं मुनिपुंगवाः । मन्त्रयित्वा द्विजैः सर्वैर्वेदमङ्गलपाठकैः
For the welfare of Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa), the foremost sages, having consulted together with all the twice-born—reciters of auspicious Vedic chants—(undertook the sacred work there).
Verse 3
स्थापितः शङ्करस्तत्र कारणं बन्धनाशनम् । संसारच्छेदकरणं प्राणिनामार्तिनाशनम्
There Śaṅkara was established (as Koṭīśvara)—the very cause that destroys bondage, cuts through worldly existence (saṃsāra), and removes the afflictions of living beings.
Verse 4
कोटीश्वरमिति प्रोक्तं पृथिव्यां नृपनन्दन । स्नापयेत्तं तु यो भक्त्या पूर्णिमायां नृपोत्तम
Upon the earth He is called “Koṭīśvara,” O prince. And whoever, O best of kings, bathes and anoints Him with devotion on the full-moon day—
Verse 5
पित्ःणां तर्पणं कृत्वा पिण्डदानं यथाविधि । श्रावणस्य विशेषेण पूर्णिमायां युधिष्ठिर
Having performed tarpaṇa for the Pitṛs and offered piṇḍa-dāna according to rule—especially on the full-moon of Śrāvaṇa, O Yudhiṣṭhira—
Verse 6
पित्ःणामक्षया तृप्तिर्यावदाभूतसम्प्लवम् । पित्ःणां परमं गुह्यं रेवातटसमाश्रितम् । मोक्षदं सर्वजन्तूनां निर्मितं मुनिसत्तमैः
For the Pitṛs there is inexhaustible satisfaction, lasting until the cosmic dissolution. This is the supreme secret for the ancestors, situated upon the bank of the Revā—bestowing mokṣa upon all beings—established by the most excellent sages.
Verse 96
। अध्याय
Here ends the chapter.