Adhyaya 284
In this adhyāya, Īśvara speaks to Mahādevī and points to Sukanyā-saras, an eminent lake within Prabhāsa-kṣetra. The well-known episode of Sukanyā, the sage Cyavana, and the Aśvin twins is situated here: the Aśvins are said to have immersed in this lake with Cyavana, and by the tīrtha’s power Cyavana is transformed, attaining a form comparable to the Aśvins. The text then explains the name: Sukanyā’s wish is fulfilled through the potency of bathing in the lake (saras-snāna-prabhāva), and thus it is remembered as “Kanyā-saras.” A phalaśruti follows, stressing especially the merit for a woman who bathes there—particularly on the third lunar day (tṛtīyā): protection from disruption of the household across vast cycles of rebirth, and avoidance of spouses marked by poverty, disability, or blindness, as traditional merit-statements tied to tīrtha observance.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि सुकन्यासर उतमम् । यत्राश्विनौ निमग्नौ तौ च्यवनेन सहांबिके । समानरूपो ह्यभवच्च्यवनो यत्र सोऽश्विना
Īśvara said: Then, O great Devī, one should go to the most excellent Sukanyā Lake—where the two Aśvins immersed themselves along with Cyavana, O Ambikā; and where Cyavana became of equal form, youthful and radiant like the Aśvins.
Verse 2
यत्र प्राप्तवती कामं सुकन्या वरवर्णिनी । सरःस्नानप्रभावेन तेन कन्यासरः स्मृतम् । तत्र स्नाता शुभा नारी तृतीयायां विशेषतः
There, fair-complexioned Sukanyā attained her desired boon through the power of bathing in that lake; therefore it is remembered as Kanyā-saras, “the Maiden’s Lake.” A virtuous woman who bathes there—especially on the third lunar day (tṛtīyā)—obtains auspicious results.
Verse 3
सप्तजन्मसहस्राणि गृहभंगं न चाप्नुयात् । दरिद्रो विकलो दीनो नांधस्तस्या भवेत्पतिः
For seven thousand births she does not suffer the breaking of her household. Her husband will not be poor, crippled, wretched, or blind.
Verse 284
इति श्रीस्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये च्यवनेश्वरमाहात्म्ये सुकन्यासरोमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम चतुरशीत्युत्तर द्विशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus, in the holy Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the Ekāśīti-sāhasrī Saṃhitā, within the seventh Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, in the first Prabhāsa-kṣetra Māhātmya, in the Cyavaneśvara Māhātmya, concludes the two-hundred-and-eighty-fourth chapter, called “The Description of the Glory of Sukanyā Lake.”