Adhyaya 211
This chapter is framed as a theological instruction from Īśvara to Devī, identifying a shrine called Pulahēśvara within the sacred landscape of Prabhāsa. Its location is given by direction—toward the naiṛta (southwest) quarter—and by a distance marker measured in dhanuṣ units. Īśvara enjoins worship of Pulahēśvara grounded in bhakti (devotion) and teaches that hiranya-dāna—the gifting of gold or wealth—secures the attainment of yātrā-phala, the meritorious “fruit” of pilgrimage. Thus the chapter weaves together the spatial indexing of a tīrtha, a minimal devotional pūjā, and an ethical-economic injunction to dāna as the formal completion of pilgrimage merit. The closing colophon places the passage within the Skanda Purāṇa’s compilation, in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, naming it as the 211th adhyāya of the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, in praise of Pulahēśvara.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । पुलस्त्येश्वरात्ततो देवि नैरृते धनुषाष्टके । पुलहेश्वरनामानं तं च भक्त्या प्रपूजयेत्
Īśvara said: Then, O Goddess, from Pulastyeśvara—at a distance of eight dhanu toward the southwest—lies the one named Pulaheśvara. One should worship Him with devotion.
Verse 2
हिरण्यदानं दत्त्वा वै सम्यग्यात्राफलं लभेत्
Indeed, by giving the gift of gold, one obtains the full and proper fruit of the pilgrimage.
Verse 211
इति श्रीस्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये पुलहेश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनामैकादशोत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends, in the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa—within the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection—within the seventh, the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, and within the first section, the Māhātmya of Prabhāsa Kṣetra, the chapter called “The Description of the Greatness of Pulaheśvara,” being Chapter 211.