Adhyaya 269
In this adhyāya, Īśvara speaks to Mahādevī and points her toward a great sacred destination: Vidura’s renowned āśrama. There Vidura—praised as dharma embodied (dharmamūrtimān)—performed fierce “raudra” austerities, making the hermitage a seat of profound sanctity. The holiness of the kṣetra is tied to a foundational Śaiva deed: the establishment (pratiṣṭhā) of a Mahādeva-liṅga known as Tribhuvaneśvara, a local manifestation of universal lordship. The text declares the practical fruit of devotion: whoever gains darśana of this liṅga attains desired aims and finds the pacification of sin (pāpopaśānti). The place, called Vidurāṭṭālaka, is attended by gaṇas and gandharvas and described as a “twelve-station” (dvādaśasthānaka) sacred complex, difficult to reach without great merit; it is also marked by the unusual sign that no rain falls there.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि विदुरस्याश्रमं महत् । यत्राकरोत्तपो रौद्रं विदुरो धर्म मूर्त्तिमान्
Īśvara said: “Then, O great goddess, one should go to the great hermitage of Vidura, where Vidura—an embodiment of Dharma—performed fierce austerities.”
Verse 2
प्रतिष्ठाप्य महादेवं लिंगं त्रिभुवनेश्वरम् । तं दृष्ट्वा मानवो देवि सर्वान्कामानवाप्नुयात्
Having installed there the liṅga of Mahādeva, Lord of the three worlds—O goddess—by merely beholding it, a person attains all desired aims.
Verse 3
विदुराट्टालकं नाम गणगंधर्वसेवितम् । द्वादशस्थानकं स्थानं नाल्पपुण्येन लभ्यते
That place is called Vidurāṭṭālaka, attended by Śiva’s gaṇas and by gandharvas. It is a “twelvefold sacred station,” not attained without great merit.
Verse 4
नावर्षणं भवेत्तत्र कदाचिदपि पार्वति । लिंगानि तत्र दिव्यानि पश्येत्पापोपशांतये
There is never any drought there, O Pārvatī. One should behold the divine liṅgas in that place for the pacification of sins.
Verse 269
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये विदुराश्रम माहात्म्यवर्णनंनामैकोनसप्तत्युत्तरद्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the two-hundred-and-sixty-ninth chapter, called “The Description of the Greatness of Vidura’s Hermitage,” in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, in the Prabhāsa-kṣetra Māhātmya section, of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa (of eighty-one thousand verses).