Adhyaya 110
Īśvara instructs Devī to go west from Gaurī-tapovana to the eminent Prabhāseśvara, marking its location within a radius of seven bow-lengths and declaring the great liṅga there to have been established by the eighth Vasu, Prabhāsa. The narrative recounts Prabhāsa’s desire for progeny, his installation of the mahāliṅga, and his long “Āgneyī” austerity for a hundred divine years, by which Rudra is pleased and grants the sought boon. A genealogical aside names Bhuvanā (Bṛhaspati’s sister) as Prabhāsa’s consort and links their line with Viśvakarmā, the cosmic artisan-creator, and with the mighty Takṣaka. The chapter ends with a pilgrim’s observance: in Māgha, on the fourteenth lunar day, bathe at the ocean confluence, perform Śatarudrīya japa, practice restraint (earth-bed and fasting), bathe the liṅga with pañcāmṛta, worship according to rule, and optionally gift a bull—promising purification and complete prosperity as the fruit.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेद्वरारोहे प्रभासेश्वरमुत्तमम् । गौरीतपोवनाद्देवि पश्चिमे समुदाहृतम्
Īśvara said: Then, O fair-hipped Goddess, one should go to the supreme Prabhāseśvara, spoken of as lying to the west of Gaurī’s grove of austerities.
Verse 2
धनुषां सप्तके देवि नातिदूरे व्यवस्थितम् । स्थापितं तन्महालिंगं वसूनामष्टमेन हि
O Goddess, it stands not far away—at a distance of seven bow-lengths. That great Liṅga was indeed established by the eighth of the Vasus.
Verse 3
प्रभास इति नाम्ना हि शिवपूजारतेन वै । स पुत्रकामो देवेशि प्रभासक्षेत्रमागतः
Indeed, there was one named Prabhāsa, devoted to the worship of Śiva. Desiring a son, O Lady of the Gods, he came to the sacred field of Prabhāsa.
Verse 4
प्रतिष्ठाप्य महालिङ्गं चचार विपुलं तपः । आग्नेयमिति विख्यातं दिव्याब्दानां शतं प्रिये
After consecrating the great Liṅga, he undertook vast austerities—at a shrine renowned as ‘Āgneya’—for a hundred divine years, O beloved.
Verse 5
ततस्तस्य महादेवि सम्यक्छ्रद्धान्वि तस्य वै । तुतोष भगवान्रुद्रो ददौ यन्मनसीप्सितम्
Then, O Great Goddess, pleased with his true and well-founded faith, the Blessed Rudra granted him what he had desired in his heart.
Verse 6
बृहस्पतेस्तु भगिनी भुवना ब्रह्मवादिनी । प्रभासस्य तु सा भार्या वसूनामष्टमस्य च
Bhuvanā, a woman devoted to sacred knowledge, was the sister of Bṛhaspati. She became the wife of Prabhāsa—who is the eighth among the Vasus.
Verse 7
विश्वकर्मा सुतस्तस्याः सृष्टिकर्ता प्रजापतिः । देवानां तक्षको विद्वान्मनोर्मातामहः स्मृतः
From her was born Viśvakarmā, the Prajāpati who fashions creation. That learned Takṣaka—renowned as the artisan of the gods—is remembered as the maternal grandfather of Manu.
Verse 8
तक्षकः सूर्यबिंबस्य तेजसः शातनो महान् । एवं तस्याऽभवत्पुत्रो वसूनामष्टमस्य वै
That great Takṣaka was a mighty temperer of the blazing radiance of the sun’s orb. Thus, from him was born a son—indeed the eighth among the Vasus.
Verse 9
प्रभासनाम्नो देवेशि तल्लिंगाराधनोद्यतः । इति ते कथितं देवि प्रभासेश्वरसूचकम्
O Queen of the gods, he became devoted to worship of that liṅga named Prabhāsa. Thus, O Goddess, I have told you what indicates and reveals Prabhāseśvara.
Verse 10
माहात्म्यं सर्वपापघ्नं सर्वकामप्रदं शुभम् । यस्तं पूजयते भक्त्या सम्यक्छ्रद्धासमन्वितः
This Māhātmya is auspicious—destroying all sins and granting all worthy desires. Whoever worships Him with devotion, endowed with proper faith, attains its benefit.
Verse 11
भूमिशायी निराहारो जपन्वै शतरुद्रियम् । माघे मासि चतुर्दश्यां स्नात्वा सागरसंगमे
Sleeping on the ground, fasting, and indeed reciting the Śatarudrīya—then, on the fourteenth lunar day in the month of Māgha, having bathed at the confluence with the ocean…
Verse 12
पंचामृतेन संस्नाप्य पूजयित्वा विधानतः
Having bathed (the deity) with pañcāmṛta and having worshipped according to the proper rite…
Verse 13
य एवं कुरुते देवि सम्यग्यात्रामहोत्सवम् । स मुक्तः पातकैः सर्वैः सर्वकामैः समृद्ध्यते । वृषस्तत्रैव दातव्यः सम्यग्यात्राफलेप्सुभिः
O Goddess, whoever performs in this way the great festival of the proper pilgrimage is freed from all sins and becomes fulfilled with all desired ends. Those who seek the fruit of a successful pilgrimage should, right there, give a bull in charity.
Verse 110
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये प्रभासेश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम दशोत्तरशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-tenth chapter, called “The Description of the Greatness of Prabhāseśvara,” in the first part, the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, within the seventh book, the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, of the holy Skanda Mahāpurāṇa in the eighty-one-thousand-verse compilation.