Adhyaya 251
In a brief discourse between Īśvara and Devī, the pilgrim is directed to worship the shrine called Śaṅkarāditya, said to lie east of Gaṅgeśvara and to have been established by Śaṅkara. The auspicious time for this worship is the sixth lunar day (ṣaṣṭhī) of the bright fortnight (śukla pakṣa). The rite is specified: offer arghya in a copper vessel (tāmra-pātra), prepared with red sandalwood (rakta-candana) and red flowers (rakta-puṣpa), performing it with concentrated attention (samāhita). The promised fruits are both transcendent and worldly—attainment of the supreme realm associated with Divākara (the Sun), higher accomplishment (parā siddhi), and freedom from falling into poverty (daridratā). The chapter concludes by urging full effort in that kṣetra to worship Śaṅkarāditya as the bestower of the fruits of all desired aims (sarva-kāma-phala-prada).
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि शंकरादित्यमुत्तमम् । गंगेश्वरस्य पूर्वेण शंकरेण प्रतिष्ठितम्
Īśvara said: Then, O Great Goddess, one should go to the excellent Śaṅkarāditya, established by Śaṅkara to the east of Gaṅgeśvara.
Verse 2
षष्ठ्यां चैव तु शुक्लायामेनं यः पूजयिष्यति । गमिष्यति परं स्थानं यत्र देवो दिवाकरः
Whoever worships him on the bright fortnight’s sixth lunar day will go to the highest abode—where the god Divākara (the Sun) dwells.
Verse 3
रक्तचंदनमिश्रैश्च रक्तपुष्पैः समाहितः । ताम्रपात्रे समाधाय योऽर्घ्यं दास्यति मानवः । स यास्यति परां सिद्धिं न च याति दरिद्रताम्
A person who, with collected mind, places arghya in a copper vessel and offers it with red flowers mixed with red sandal, attains supreme accomplishment and does not fall into poverty.
Verse 4
तस्मात्सर्वप्रयत्नेन तस्मिन्क्षेत्रे वरानने । पूजयेच्छंकरादित्यं सर्वकामफलप्रदम्
Therefore, O fair-faced Goddess, with every effort in that sacred region one should worship Śaṅkarāditya, the bestower of the fruits of all desires.
Verse 251
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये शंकरादित्यमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनामैकपञ्चाशदुत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the two-hundred-and-fifty-first chapter, called “The Description of the Greatness of Śaṅkarāditya,” in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, within the Prabhāsa-kṣetra Māhātmya of the eighty-one-thousand-verse Saṃhitā.