Adhyaya 313
In this adhyāya, spoken as an authoritative theological instruction (Īśvara uvāca), a named sacred sub-site called “Uttarārka” is located within the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa. It is placed in the vāyavya (northwestern) directional sector, at a stated distance of sixteen dhanu, in a prescriptive, result-focused manner that identifies and names the place. The text praises the site as “sadyah pratyaya-kāraka,” granting immediate confirmatory results to the practitioner. It explicitly connects the observance of Nimba-saptamī (a seventh-day vow/rite associated with nimba, the Neem) with the promised fruit of release from “all diseases,” presenting a Purāṇic phalaśruti of healing and well-being.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । तस्माद्वायव्यदिग्भागे धनुःषोडशभिः स्थितः । उत्तरार्कश्च नाम्ना वै सद्यः प्रत्ययकारकः । मुच्यते सर्वरोगैस्तु कृत्वा वै निंबसप्तमीम्
Īśvara said: “From there, in the north-western quarter, at a distance of sixteen dhanuṣ, is the deity named Uttarārka, who grants immediate assurance. By observing the Nimba-Saptamī, one is freed from all diseases.”
Verse 313
इति श्रीस्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभास खण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्य उत्तरार्कमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम त्रयोदशोत्तरत्रिशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the three-hundred-and-thirteenth chapter, called “The Description of the Greatness of Uttarārka,” in the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa, within the Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya of the venerable Skanda Mahāpurāṇa (eighty-one-thousand-verse Saṃhitā).