Adhyaya 178
In this adhyāya, Īśvara speaks to Devī and directs the pilgrim’s course within Prabhāsa-kṣetra. The devotee is told to go to the southern part of the sacred region, where the shrine named Bhārgaveśvara is located. Bhārgaveśvara is praised as a holy locus that destroys all sins (sarva-pāpa-praṇāśana). The chapter then states the essential mode of worship: honoring the deity with divine flowers and offerings (divya-puṣpa-upahāraka). By this worship the devotee becomes kṛta-kṛtya—one whose religious aims are fulfilled—and prospers with the accomplishment of all desires (sarva-kāmaiḥ samṛddhimān).
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि तस्माद्दक्षिणतः स्थितम् । भार्गवेश्वरनामानं सर्वपापप्रणाशनम्
Īśvara said: “Then, O Great Goddess, one should go to the shrine situated to the south of that place—known as Bhārgaveśvara—which destroys all sins.”
Verse 2
यस्तं पूजयते देवि दिव्यपुष्पोपहारकैः । स भवेत्कृतकृत्यस्तु सर्वकामैः समृद्धिमान्
O Goddess, whoever worships Him with offerings of divine flowers becomes one who has fulfilled life’s purpose, and is prospered with all desired aims.
Verse 178
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये भार्गवेश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनामाष्टसप्तत्युत्तरशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-seventy-eighth chapter, called “The Description of the Greatness of Bhārgaveśvara,” in the first part, the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, within the seventh Khanda (Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa) of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the eighty-one-thousand-verse Saṃhitā.