Adhyaya 126
Īśvara instructs Devī to go to the eminent Śāṇḍilyeśvara liṅga, describing its location with reference to Brahmā’s western sector and giving distance markers. This liṅga is praised as supremely efficacious: mere darśana (sacred sight) is declared pāpa-nāśana, destroying impurity and sin. The chapter then introduces the Brahmarṣi Śāṇḍilya—Brahmā’s charioteer, a radiant ascetic established in knowledge and self-control. He comes to Prabhāsa, performs intense tapas, installs a great liṅga north of Somēśa, and worships it personally for a hundred divine years, thereby attaining his desired goal and becoming fulfilled. By Nandīśvara’s favor he is endowed with aṇimā and other yogic excellences. The text concludes that whoever beholds Śāṇḍilyeśvara is immediately purified, and that sins committed in childhood, youth, or old age—knowingly or unknowingly—are destroyed by that darśana.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि शांडिल्येश्वरमुत्तमम् । ब्रह्मणः पश्चिमे भागे धनुषां षोडशांतरे
Īśvara said: “Then, O Great Goddess, one should go to the supreme Śāṇḍilyeśvara. It is situated to the west of (the shrine of) Brahmā, at a distance of sixteen dhanuṣ (bow-lengths).”
Verse 2
महाप्रभावं लिङ्गं तद्दर्शनात्पापनाशनम्
That liṅga is of great power; by its very darśana (sacred sight/encounter), sins are destroyed.
Verse 3
शांडिल्योनाम ब्रह्मर्षिः सारथिर्ब्रह्मणः स्मृतः । तपस्वी स महातेजा ज्ञाननिष्ठो जितेन्द्रियः
There was a Brahmarṣi named Śāṇḍilya, remembered as the sārathi (charioteer) of Brahmā. He was an ascetic of great splendor—steadfast in knowledge and master of his senses.
Verse 4
स प्रभासं समासाद्य तपस्तेपे सुदारुणम् । प्रतिष्ठाप्य महालिंगं सोमेशादुत्तरे स्थितम्
Having reached Prabhāsa, he undertook exceedingly severe austerities. He established a great liṅga, situated to the north of Someśa.
Verse 5
स स्वयं पूजयामास दिव्याब्दानां शतं प्रिये । ततोऽभिलषितं प्राप्य कृतकृत्यो बभूव ह
O beloved, he himself worshipped that liṅga for a hundred divine years. Then, attaining what he had desired, he became one whose purpose was fulfilled.
Verse 6
नन्दीश्वरप्रसादेन अणिमादिगुणैर्युतः । तं दृष्ट्वा तु नरः सद्यो विपापः संप्रजायते
By the grace of Nandīśvara, that shrine is endowed with powers beginning with aṇimā. Yet a man, upon seeing it, immediately becomes free from sin.
Verse 7
बाल्ये वयसि यत्पापं वार्धक्ये यौवनेऽपि वा । अज्ञानाज्ज्ञानतो वाऽपि यः करोति नरः प्रिये । तत्सर्वं नाशमायाति शांडिल्येश्वरदर्शनात्
O beloved, whatever sin a person commits in childhood, youth, or old age—whether from ignorance or even knowingly—all of it is destroyed by the darśana of Śāṇḍilyeśvara.
Verse 126
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभास क्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये शाण्डिल्येश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम षड्विंशत्युत्तरशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-twenty-sixth chapter, called “The Description of the Glory of Śāṇḍilyeśvara,” in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa (Book Seven) of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, within the Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya section.