Adhyaya 351
This adhyāya records Īśvara’s instruction to Mahādevī to go to the goddess Kauraveśvarī, whose name is bound to Kurukṣetra through earlier propitiation (ārādhanā). She is praised as a protective power who guards the sacred kṣetra, and it is recalled that Bhīma once worshiped her after taking up the duty of protecting that holy field. A calendrical rule is given: worship performed with earnest effort on Mahānavamī is said to be especially fruitful. The chapter also teaches hospitality and regulated ritual giving (dāna): food should be offered particularly to married couples, including offerings of divine-quality fare and well-prepared sweet dishes. Such acts delight the goddess, who, when praised, is said to protect the devotee like a son.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि तस्माद्वै कौरवेश्वरीम् । यस्य नाम्ना कुरुक्षेत्रं तेन साराधिता पुरा
Īśvara said: “Then, O great Goddess, from there one should go to Kauraveśvarī—she by whose very name Kurukṣetra is renowned, and who was worshiped with full devotion in ancient times.”
Verse 2
आराधिताऽसौ भीमेन कृत्वा क्षेत्रस्य रक्षणम् । महानवम्यां यत्नेन यस्तां पूजयते नरः । तं पुत्रमिव कल्याणी रक्षते नात्र संशयः
She was worshiped by Bhīma after he undertook the protection of the sacred field. Any man who, with care, worships her on Mahānavamī—Kalyāṇī surely protects him like her own son; of this there is no doubt.
Verse 3
भोजनं तत्र दातव्यं दंपतीनां न संशयः । दिव्यैर्भक्ष्यैः सुमिष्टान्नैः सा तुष्यति ततः स्तुता
There, without doubt, food should be given in charity to married couples. When divine delicacies and well-prepared sweet dishes are offered, she is pleased; then she should be praised with hymns.
Verse 350
इति श्रीस्कान्दे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्ये कौरवेश्वरीमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम पञ्चाशदुत्तरत्रिशततमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the three-hundred-and-fifty-first chapter, entitled “The Account of the Greatness of Kauraveśvarī,” in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the holy Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, within the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya.