परदारकृतं यच्च मात्रापि च समं कृतम् । क्षालयिष्यति तत्पापं स्नापितं पूजितं परैः
paradārakṛtaṃ yacca mātrāpi ca samaṃ kṛtam | kṣālayiṣyati tatpāpaṃ snāpitaṃ pūjitaṃ paraiḥ
Até mesmo o pecado nascido do adultério, e até aquele tão grave quanto a falta contra a própria mãe—quando este (liṅga) é banhado e venerado devidamente, tal pecado é lavado.
Śiva (implied, continuing the merit statement)
Tirtha: Yājñavalkyeśvara at Hāṭakeśvara
Type: temple
Scene: A penitent devotee, burdened by grave sin, witnesses the liṅga being bathed and worshipped; the abhiṣeka waters are depicted as washing away dark stains that dissolve into light around the sanctum.
Śiva’s grace accessed through liṅga worship is portrayed as a powerful means of purification even from heavy moral transgressions.
The Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra milieu in the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (Yājñavalkyeśvara narrative).
Ritual bathing (abhiṣeka) and worship (pūjā) of the liṅga as a purificatory act (prāyaścitta).