Adhyaya 340
Chapter 340 is a brief instruction in which Īśvara speaks to Devī, directing her attention to a particular shrine: Caṇḍīśvara, praised as a great liṅga (mahāliṅga) that destroys all sins and transgressions (sarva-pātaka-nāśana). He then lays down a calendrical rite: on the fourteenth lunar day of the bright fortnight (śukla-caturdaśī) in the month of Kārttika, one should observe fasting (upavāsa) and keep a night vigil (prajāgara). The chapter ends with a phalaśruti promise that such observance leads to the “supreme station” of Maheśvara, presenting the vow as both moral purification and a path toward liberation. The closing colophon places it in the Skanda Purāṇa, Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, within the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya section, as the 340th chapter.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि तत्र स्थाने तु संस्थितम् । चण्डीश्वरं महालिंगं सर्वपातकनाशनम्
Īśvara said: “Then, O Great Goddess, one should go to that place where the great Liṅga known as Caṇḍīśvara stands—destroyer of all sins.”
Verse 2
तत्र शुक्लचतुर्द्दश्यां कार्तिके मासि भामिनि । उपवासपरो भूत्वा यः करोति प्रजागरम् । स याति परमं स्थानं यत्र देवो महेश्वरः
There, on the bright fourteenth lunar day in the month of Kārtika, O radiant lady, whoever observes fasting and keeps vigil through the night attains the supreme abode where Lord Maheśvara dwells.
Verse 340
इति श्रीस्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखंडे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये देविकामाहात्म्ये चण्डीश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनं नाम चत्वारिंशदुत्तरत्रिशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends, in the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa—within the eighty-one-thousand-verse Saṃhitā, in the seventh book, the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa—within the first Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, in the Devikā Māhātmya—the chapter entitled “The Description of the Greatness of Caṇḍīśvara,” being Chapter 340.