Adhyaya 175
This adhyāya is a compact instruction from Īśvara to Mahādevī, directing her attention to a highly meritorious place called Arkasthala (“the Sun-place”), situated in the Āgneya (southeastern) direction from the earlier point of reference. It is praised as “sarva-pātaka-nāśana,” the destroyer of all sins: by mere darśana (seeing/visiting), one becomes free from sorrow, and poverty is said not to arise for seven births. The text also proclaims relief in bodily afflictions—kuṣṭha (skin diseases) is destroyed with multiplied force—and equates the merit of darśana with great gifts, such as the fruit of donating a hundred cows at Kurukṣetra. A brief observance is prescribed: bathing at the tri-saṅgama tīrtha for seven Sundays, feeding Brahmins, and gifting a buffalo (mahiṣī). The phalaśruti concludes with an extended heavenly reward—dwelling and honor in heaven for a thousand divine years—thus joining sacred place, rite, and righteous charity into a single pilgrimage discipline.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि पुण्यमर्कस्थलं शुभम् । तस्मादाग्नेयकोणस्थं सर्वपातकनाशनम्
Īśvara said: “Then, O Mahādevī, one should go to the auspicious and holy Arka-sthala. From there, in the south-eastern quarter, is a place that destroys all grievous sins.”
Verse 2
तं दृष्ट्वा मानुषो देवि न शोच्यः संप्रजायते । सप्त जन्मानि देवेशि दारिद्र्यं नैव जायते
O Goddess, whoever beholds that holy place/deity does not become pitiable. O Lady of the Gods, for seven births poverty does not arise for him.
Verse 3
कुष्ठानि नाशमायांति तं दृष्ट्वा दशधा प्रिये । गोशतस्य प्रदत्तस्य कुरुक्षेत्रेषु यत्फलम्
Beloved, by beholding that holy place/deity, leprosies are destroyed tenfold. The merit gained equals the fruit of gifting a hundred cows at Kurukṣetra.
Verse 4
तत्फलं समवाप्नोति दृष्ट्वा वार्कस्थलं रविम् । स्नात्वा त्रिसंगमे तीर्थे सप्तैव रविवासरान्
One attains that very merit by beholding the Sun at Arkasthala, and by bathing at the Trisaṅgama sacred ford for seven Sundays.
Verse 5
ब्राह्मणान्भोजयित्वा तु महिषीं तत्र दापयेत् । दिव्यं वर्षसहस्रं तु स्वर्गलोके महीयते
Having fed the brāhmaṇas, one should there donate a buffalo-cow; then one is honored in heaven for a thousand divine years.
Verse 175
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्येऽर्कस्थलमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम पञ्चसप्तत्युत्तरशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-seventy-fifth chapter, called “The Description of the Greatness of Arkasthala,” in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, within the eighty-one-thousand-verse Saṃhitā, in the first part: the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya.