Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 42
मासेमासे च योऽश्नीयाद्यावज्जीवं सुरेश्वरि । यश्चार्च्चयेत्सकृल्लिंगं सममेतन्न संशयः
māsemāse ca yo'śnīyādyāvajjīvaṃ sureśvari | yaścārccayetsakṛlliṃgaṃ samametanna saṃśayaḥ
اے دیوتاؤں کی ملکہ! جو شخص عمر بھر ہر ماہ مقدس بھوجن/ورت کا اہتمام کرے، اور جو ایک بار بھی لِنگ کی پوجا کرے—دونوں کا پُنّیہ برابر ہے؛ اس میں کوئی شک نہیں۔
Śiva (as Somnātha), addressing Sureśvarī (likely Pārvatī)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sureśvarī (Indrāṇī)
Scene: A life timeline motif: a devotee performing monthly rites across years fades into the background, while in the foreground a single, focused worship of the Śiva-liṅga shines equally bright—Śiva’s grace balancing the scales.
FAQs
A single act of intense, properly directed devotion at a supreme shrine can equal prolonged routine observance.
Somnātha in Prabhāsakṣetra, where even one-time liṅga worship is declared highly potent.
Regular monthly observance involving regulated eating/feeding, and alternatively a single act of liṅga worship (arcana).