Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3
तत्र तिष्ठति देवेशः साक्षाद्रुद्रो महेश्वरः । भारेण महता जातो भारभूतिरिति स्मृतः
tatra tiṣṭhati deveśaḥ sākṣādrudro maheśvaraḥ | bhāreṇa mahatā jāto bhārabhūtiriti smṛtaḥ
അവിടെ ദേവേശൻ, സാക്ഷാൽ രുദ്രനായ മഹേശ്വരൻ വസിക്കുന്നു. മഹത്തായ ഭാരത്തിന്റെ കാരണത്താൽ അദ്ദേഹം ‘ഭാരഭൂതി’ എന്ന നാമത്തിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധനായി സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു.
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya
Tirtha: Bhārabhūti (tīrtha/kṣetra epithet at/near Kṣamānātha)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira
Scene: On the riverbank stands a self-manifest Śiva presence—either a radiant liṅga or anthropomorphic Rudra with trident—surrounded by ascetics; the air feels weighty yet liberating, hinting at the ‘great burden’ that gave the name Bhārabhūti.
FAQs
A tīrtha becomes supremely sanctified where Śiva is present ‘in person’; divine presence is the heart of sthala-māhātmya.
The locale where Maheśvara is present and associated with the epithet Bhārabhūti—i.e., Bhārabhūti Tīrtha.
No explicit rite is prescribed here; the verse identifies the deity and the name-origin that grounds the tīrtha’s greatness.