Adhyaya 309
This chapter gives a brief ritual and sacred-geographical instruction spoken by Īśvara to Mahādevī. The pilgrim is directed to the eminent Vināyaka shrine called Caturmukha, located north of Caṇḍīśa, approached toward the Īśāna (northeast) quarter at a measured distance of four dhanus. It then prescribes the mode of worship: perform pūjā with deliberate care and disciplined effort (prayatna), offering fragrance (gandha), flowers (puṣpa), and food offerings (bhakṣya, bhojya), including modaka. Worship on the fourth lunar day (caturthī) is declared the key observance, granting siddhi (accomplishment) and removing vighna (obstacles), so that religious aims are successfully fulfilled.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि विनायकमनुत्तमम् । चतुर्मुखेति विख्यातं चण्डीशादुत्तरे स्थितम्
Īśvara said: Then, O Great Goddess, one should go to the unsurpassed Vināyaka, famed as “Caturmukha,” situated to the north of Caṇḍīśa.
Verse 2
किञ्चिदीशानदिग्भागे धनुषां च चतुष्टये । तं प्रयत्नाच्च संपूज्य सर्वविघ्नैः प्रमुच्यते
A little in the north-eastern quarter, at a distance of four bow-lengths, worshipping him with earnest effort, one is freed from every obstacle.
Verse 3
गन्धपुष्पादिभिस्तत्र भक्ष्यैर्भोज्यैः समोदकैः । चतुर्मुखं चतुर्थ्यां तु संपूज्य सिद्धिभाग्भवेत्
There, with fragrances, flowers and the like—along with offerings of sweets, foods, and drinks—worshipping Caturmukha especially on the fourth lunar day (Caturthī), one becomes a recipient of success and attainment.
Verse 309
इति श्रीस्कांदे महपुराण एकाशीति साहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये चतुर्मुखविनायक माहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम नवोत्तरत्रिशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends, in the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa—within the compilation of eighty-one thousand verses—the three-hundred-and-ninth chapter in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, in the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, entitled “Narration of the Glory of Caturmukha Vināyaka.”