Adhyaya 120
This adhyāya is spoken as a Śaiva theological instruction, with Īśvara addressing Mahādevī and directing the pilgrim to proceed to the shrine of Gopīśvara—praised as “unsurpassed”—lying to the north, with a locational cue of about “three bows” distance. The shrine is extolled as pāpa-śamana, removing sin and impurity, and its local sanctity is grounded in the installation legend that the gopīs themselves established and consecrated it (pratiṣṭhita). A concise ritual regimen is then given: worship Mahādeva/Maheśvara for the sake of progeny (putra-hetu), for the Lord grants all desired aims to humans and is especially famed as santati-prada, the bestower of offspring and continuity. A calendrical rule follows: worship on the bright third lunar day of Caitra (Caitra-śukla-tṛtīyā), with fragrances, flowers, and offerings, yields the sought fruit. The chapter closes by stating that this is a compressed account of Gopīśvara’s purificatory māhātmya in Prabhāsa-kṣetra.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि गोपीश्वरमनुत्तमम् । बलातिबलदैत्यघ्न्या उत्तरे धनुषां त्रये
Īśvara said: Then, O great Goddess, one should go to the unsurpassed Gopīśvara—located to the north of Balātibala-daitya-ghnī, at a distance of three dhanuṣ (bow-length measures).
Verse 2
संस्थितं पापशमनं गोपीभिः संप्रतिष्ठितम् । समाराध्य महादेवं पुत्रहेतोर्महेश्वरम् । सर्वकामप्रदं नॄणां पूजितं संततिप्रदम्
There stands (Gopīśvara), the remover of sin, established by the Gopīs. Having duly worshipped Mahādeva—Maheśvara—for the sake of obtaining a son, people find Him the giver of all desires; when worshipped, He bestows progeny and continuity of lineage.
Verse 3
चैत्रशुक्लतृतीयायां यस्तं पूजयते नरः । गंध पुष्पोपहारैश्च स प्राप्नोतीप्सितं फलम्
On the bright third day of Caitra, the man who worships Him with offerings of fragrance and flowers attains the desired fruit.
Verse 4
एवं संक्षेपतः प्रोक्तं माहात्म्यं पापनाशनम् । गोपीश्वरस्य देवस्य प्रभासक्षेत्रवासिनः
Thus, in brief, has been spoken the sin-destroying greatness of the god Gopīśvara, who dwells in Prabhāsakṣetra.
Verse 120
इति श्री स्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां सहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये बलातिबलदैत्यघ्नीमाहात्म्ये गोपीश्वर माहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम विंशत्युत्तरशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends, in the holy Skanda Mahāpurāṇa—within the eighty-one-thousand-verse compilation—within the seventh, the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, and within the first, the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, within the Balātibala-daitya-ghnī Māhātmya cycle, the chapter entitled “The Description of the Greatness of Gopīśvara,” being Chapter 120.