Adhyaya 77
Īśvara speaks to Mahādevī and directs the course of pilgrimage toward Uttankeśvara, praised as an excellent sacred locus. The shrine is said to lie south of the previously mentioned point and not far away, marking an itinerary-based guidance within Prabhāsa-kṣetra. The installation is attributed to Uttanka, a great-souled devotee, who established it himself through devotion. The pilgrim, calm and well-composed, should behold the place (darśana) and touch it (sparśana), then worship it properly according to rite with bhakti. The promised fruit is release from all impurities and transgressions. The colophon identifies this as the seventy-seventh adhyāya of the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, devoted to the māhātmya of Uttankeśvara.
Shlokas
Verse 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि उत्तंकेश्वरमुत्तमम् । तस्यैव दक्षिणे भागे नातिदूरे व्यवस्थितम् । स्थापितं च स्वयं भक्त्या उत्तंकेन महात्मना
Īśvara said: Then, O great Goddess, one should go to the excellent Uttaṅkeśvara. It stands on the southern side nearby, and it was established by the great-souled Uttaṅka himself, with devotion.
Verse 2
तद्दृष्ट्वा तु महादेवि स्पृष्ट्वा च सुसमाहितः । संपूज्य विधिवद्भक्त्या मुच्यते सर्वकिल्बिषात्
O great Goddess, having seen it, and having touched it with a collected mind, and having worshipped it with devotion according to rule—one is released from all taints and sins.
Verse 77
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखण्डे प्रथमे प्रभासक्षेत्रमाहात्म्य उत्तंकेश्वरमाहात्म्य वर्णनंनाम सप्तसप्ततितमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the seventy-seventh chapter, entitled “The Description of the Greatness of Uttaṅkeśvara,” in the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa of the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, within the Prabhāsa-kṣetra Māhātmya.