Adhyaya 62
Pulastya sets forth a pilgrimage sequence that leads the listener to two liṅgas: Kāṭeśvara, said to have been fashioned by Gaurī (Umā), and Gaṅgeśvara, fashioned by the river-goddess Gaṅgā. The narrative is stirred by an earlier dispute between Umā and Gaṅgā concerning saubhāgya—auspicious marital fortune and household blessedness. As Gaṅgā searches for a place to establish a liṅga, Gaurī beholds a lovely mountain formation resembling a liṅga, marked by a ring-like feature (kāṭaka), and worships there with full śraddhā. Mahādeva is pleased, grants darśana, and bestows a boon. Gaurī names the shrine Kāṭeśvara and proclaims its phalāśruti: women distressed by co-wife rivalry or separation are said to be freed from fever and affliction by merely seeing the shrine, gaining well-being and the restoration of auspiciousness in the home. Gaṅgā likewise worships, receives a boon, and establishes Gaṅgeśvara, confirming the paired logic of the holy sites: both liṅgas should be seen. Special emphasis is placed on women seeking relief from “sapatnī-doṣa” and the attainment of sukha and saubhāgya. The chapter closes by affirming these benefits as an enduring devotional incentive within the sacred geography of Arbuda.
Shlokas
Verse 1
पुलस्त्यस्य उवाच । ततः कटेश्वरं गच्छेल्लिंगं गौरीविनिर्मितम् । तथा गंगेश्वरं चान्यद्गङ्गया निर्मितं स्वयम्
Pulastya said: Then one should go to Kaṭeśvara—the liṅga fashioned by Goddess Gaurī; and likewise to another, Gaṅgeśvara, made by Goddess Gaṅgā herself.
Verse 2
पुरा समभवद्युद्धमुमायाः सह गंगया । सौभाग्यं प्रति राजेन्द्र ततो गौरीत्यभाषत
O lord of kings, once there arose a conflict between Umā and Goddess Gaṅgā concerning auspicious fortune; then Gaurī spoke thus.
Verse 3
यया संपूजितः शंभुः शीघ्रं यास्यति दर्शनम् । सा सौभाग्यवती नूनभावयोः संभविष्यति
‘She by whom Śambhu is worshipped fully and who quickly gains his vision—she alone, surely, will become the truly fortunate one among us two.’
Verse 4
एवमुक्ता ततो गंगा सत्वरैत्यात्र पर्वते । लिंगमन्वेषयामास चिरकालादवाप सा
Thus addressed, Goddess Gaṅgā hurried to this mountain and searched for a liṅga; after a long time, she found it and obtained it.
Verse 5
दृष्ट्वा गौर्याथ कटकं पर्वतस्य मनोहरम् । लिंगाकारं महाराज पूजयामास सा तदा
O great king, then Gaurī, seeing the delightful Kaṭaka of the mountain, bearing the form of a liṅga, worshipped it at that very time.
Verse 6
सम्यक्छ्रद्धासमोपेता ततस्तुष्टो महेश्वरः । प्रददौ दर्शनं तस्या वरदोऽस्मीति चाब्रवीत्
When she was endowed with proper faith, Maheśvara was pleased; he granted her his darśana and said, “I am the giver of boons.”
Verse 7
गौर्युवाच । सापत्न्यजेर्ष्यया देव मया लिंगं प्रकल्पितम् । तस्मात्कटेश्वराख्या च लोके चास्य भविष्यति
Gaurī said: “O Lord, out of jealousy arising from rivalry with a co-wife, I fashioned this liṅga. Therefore, in the world it shall also become known by the name Kaṭeśvara.”
Verse 8
या नारी पतिना मुक्ता सपत्नीदुःखदुःखिता । अस्य संदर्शनादेव सा भविष्यति विज्वरा । सुतसौभाग्यसंपन्ना भर्तृप्राणसमा तथा
Any woman who has been abandoned by her husband and is tormented by the sorrow caused by a co-wife—by merely beholding this sacred presence, she becomes free from affliction. She becomes blessed with the good fortune of children, and again becomes as dear to her husband as his very life.
Verse 9
गंगयाराधितो देव एवमेव वरं ददौ । तस्माल्लिंगद्वयं तच्च द्रष्टव्यं मनुजाधिप
Thus the Lord, worshipped by Gaṅgā, granted this very boon. Therefore, O ruler of men, that pair of liṅgas should indeed be visited and beheld.
Verse 10
विशेषतश्च नारीभिः सपत्नीदोषहानिदम् । सुखसौभाग्यदं नित्यं तथाऽभीष्टप्रदं नृणाम्
This is especially to be sought by women, for it removes the blemish and distress connected with a co-wife. It ever bestows happiness and good fortune, and it grants the desired aims of men as well.
Verse 62
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे तृतीयेऽर्बुदखंडे कटेश्वरगंगेश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम द्विषष्टितमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the sixty-second chapter, entitled “The Description of the Greatness of Kaṭeśvara and Gaṅgeśvara,” in the third division, the Arbuda Khaṇḍa, within the seventh, the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the eighty-one-thousand-verse recension.