Adhyaya 267
Chapter 267 offers a brief tīrtha instruction within a Śaiva dialogue. Īśvara speaks to Devī and points to the sacred place called Gaṅgāpatha, graced by the great-flowing Gaṅgā and by a Śiva manifestation revered as Gaṅgeśvara. Gaṅgā is praised as sea-bound (samudragāminī), sin-destroying (pāpanāśinī), and famed on earth as “Uttānā,” an ornament of the three worlds. The prescribed observance is to bathe there and worship Gaṅgeśa; the phalaśruti declares that the devotee is freed from grievous sins and gains merit equal to performing vast numbers of Aśvamedha sacrifices. The chapter closes with a colophon placing it in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, under the glory of Gaṅgāpatha–Gaṅgeśvara.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि स्थानं गंगापथेति च । यत्र गंगा महास्रोता गंगेश्वरः शिवस्तथा
Īśvara said: “Then, O great goddess, one should go to the place called Gaṅgāpatha, where the mighty-flowing Gaṅgā is found, and where Śiva too is present as Gaṅgeśvara.”
Verse 2
समुद्रगामिनी देवि सा गंगा पापनाशिनी । उत्तानेति भुवि ख्याता नदी त्रैलोक्यभूषणा
O goddess, that Gaṅgā flows onward to the ocean and destroys sins. On earth she is renowned as ‘Uttānā,’ a river that adorns the three worlds.
Verse 3
तत्र स्नात्वा महादेवि गंगेशं यस्तु पूजयेत् । मुक्तः स्यात्पातकैर्घोरैरश्वमेधायुतं लभेत्
Having bathed there, O great Goddess, whoever worships Gaṅgeśa is freed from dreadful sins and gains merit equal to ten thousand Aśvamedha sacrifices.
Verse 267
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीति साहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये गङ्गापथगंगेश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम सप्तषष्ट्युत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the 267th chapter, entitled “The Description of the Greatness of Gaṅgāpatha and Gaṅgeśvara,” in Book Seven, the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, within the first division, the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya.