Adhyaya 316
This chapter is a compact tīrtha entry that identifies the installation of the deity Kṣemāditya in relation to Devakula, giving the measured distance of pañca-gavyūti and placing it within/near Śambara-sthāna. It functions as a sacred locator for pilgrims. It declares the fruit of darśana: one who beholds the deity attains kṣemārtha-siddhi, success oriented toward welfare and well-being. It further prescribes a time-bound rule of worship: pūjā performed on the seventh lunar day (saptamī) when it coincides with Sunday (ravivāra) is proclaimed sarva-kāma-da, granting desired aims. The passage closes by classifying this as tīrtha-situated instruction at Devakula, stating where the shrine is, what to do, when to do it, and the promised result.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । अथ देवकुलात्पूर्वे पंचगव्यूतिमात्रतः । शंबरस्थान मध्ये तु क्षेमादित्येति विश्रुतः
Īśvara said: Next, to the east of Devakula, at a distance of five gavyūtis, in the midst of the place called Śambara, there is a shrine renowned as Kṣemāditya.
Verse 2
तं दृष्ट्वा मानवो देवि भवेत्क्षेमार्थसिद्धिभाक् । सप्तम्यां रविवारेण पूजितः सर्वकामदः
O Goddess, by merely beholding him (Kṣemāditya), a person attains success in welfare and security. Worshipped on Saptamī, on a Sunday, he becomes a bestower of all desired aims.
Verse 3
इति देवकुलस्थाने कथिता तीर्थसंस्थितिः
Thus, in the region of Devakula, the location and description of this sacred tīrtha has been related.
Verse 316
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्र माहात्म्ये क्षेमादित्यमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम षोडशोत्तरत्रिशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the three-hundred-and-sixteenth chapter, entitled “The Account of the Greatness of Kṣemāditya,” in the first Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya of the seventh Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the Saṃhitā of eighty-one thousand verses.