Skandapurana 16.4

Sūta said: / When its majesty was thus declared by Śaṃkara, O chief sages, / the virtuous goddess asked again with joined palms.

The goddess said: / O God of gods, Lord of the universe, Lord who consists of sacred fields and sacred fords, / declare to me in detail the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya.

How are you pleased with foolish mortals in that sacred field? / Whatever is recited, given, offered in fire, sacrificed, and whatever austerity is performed— / why does it become imperishable there in the great sacred field of Prabhāsa?

Whatever sin has been accumulated previously through thousands of other births, / how does it meet its destruction? Tell me that, O Śaṃkara.

If Prabhāsa is considered the foremost of all sacred fords, / what need is there for many other extensive sacred fords there?

If there is only one sacred ford, the mind becomes free of doubt; / when there is a multiplicity of sacred fords, the minds of men waver.

Therefore, setting aside the entire vast collection of sacred fords, / declare the māhātmya of Prabhāsa alone, O ruler of gods.

The measure of the sacred field, its boundary, and the essence of the field, O Lord, / you ought to declare all that, for great indeed is my curiosity.

Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I shall declare the best field among sacred fields, / that sacred field among all sacred fields, Prabhāsa, which is dear to me.

In Prabhāsa is the supreme perfection; in Prabhāsa is the supreme goal, / where I am always and constantly present, O auspicious lady.

I shall declare its extent, together with all its boundaries. / The sacred field is said to be threefold; that I shall tell you in order.

The field, the seat, and the inner sanctum of Prabhāsa are celebrated; / their fruits are remembered to be millions and millions of times greater in succession.

The field is declared to be the first, and that is twelve yojanas. / The seat of the field is proclaimed to have a measure of five yojanas.

And the inner sanctum is a gavyūti; that pericarp is dear to me. / I shall declare the boundary of the sacred field; listen, O goddess, in due order.

In length and breadth, situated from beginning, middle, to end: / in the east is Taptodakasvāmin, in the west Mādhava is remembered,

in the south is the ocean, and likewise in the north the river Bhadrā is recognized. / Thus endowed with boundaries is the sacred field of twelve yojanas.

This is the sacred field of Prabhāsa, destroying all sins. / Within it, the seat is declared to extend five yojanas.

To the west of the Nyaṅku river and to the east of Vajriṇī, / to the south of Māheśvarī and to the north of the ocean,

in length and breadth an extent of five yojanas, / this is declared to be the seat; now listen to the inner sanctum.

From south to north, from the ocean as far as Kauraveśvarī; / from east to west, from Gomukha as far as Āśvamedhika: / this is declared to be the inner sanctum, dearer to me than Kailāsa.

In this intervening space, O ruler of gods, whatever sacred fords there are on the earth, / stepped wells, wells, ponds, and temples of deities,

lakes, rivers, puddles, and pools— / all of them are pure and destroy all sins.

Bathing anywhere [there], a man is honoured in the world of heaven. / The first pure portion of the field is remembered as belonging to Maheśvara;

the second portion belongs to Viṣṇu, and the third portion belongs to Brahmā. / One crore of sacred fords is situated in the portion belonging to Brahmā,

one crore of sacred fords is in the portion belonging to Viṣṇu, O fair-complexioned lady, / and one and a half crores are declared in the central portion belonging to Rudra.

Thus, O goddess, that sacred field has been declared to belong to three deities. / A sacred field more secret than the secret, it is most dear to me, O auspicious one.

Three and a half crores [of sacred fords] are declared in the sacred field according to its divisions. / The pilgrimage is known to be threefold; listen to it, O fair-faced lady!

The first pilgrimage is of Rudra, the second of Viṣṇu, / and the third is recorded as of Brahmā, destroying all sins.

In the division of Brahmā, the power of will (icchāśakti) is declared, O fair-faced lady; / and action (kriyāśakti) is proclaimed in the second division, that of Viṣṇu.

And in the third division, that of Rudra, the power of knowledge (jñānaśakti) [abides], O fair-faced lady. / Even if a man is sinful, even if he is deceitful, even if he is treacherous,

he is freed from all sins if he dwells in the central division. / Leaving the Himālaya and the Gandhamādana mountain,

and Kailāsa, Niṣadha, and the brilliantly shining surface of Meru, / and the charming Triśikhara and the great mountain Mānasa,

and the delightful gardens of the gods, and the Nandana forest, / the delightful dwellings of heaven, the sacred fords and temples— / abandoning all of them, my delight is in Prabhāsa.

Whoever dwells there, O goddess, self-restrained and concentrated in mind, / even if eating at the three times [of day], becomes equal to one who lives on air.

Even when tossed about by obstacles, whoever does not abandon Prabhāsa / casts off old age, death, and the impermanent cycle of birth.

Even if yoga is obtained through hundreds of other births, O goddess, / liberation is still not obtained through a thousand births.

Those who abide in Prabhāsa with firm resolve, O great goddess— / their liberation occurs within a single birth; there is no doubt here.

Those brahmins of strict vows who dwell in Prabhāsa / and recite the Śatarudrīya joined with the Mṛtyuṃjaya [mantra],

resorting to the southern direction in the presence of Kālāgnirudra, / knowledge arises there [in them] within six months.

Śiva is declared by the Veda through synonyms of his names, / and the Śatarudra is proclaimed to be his essential self-nature.

In the cosmic cycles (kalpas), the Vedas are remembered as recurring again and again, / and the mantras likewise, O goddess, except for the Śatarudrīya.

Those who, having reached the sacred field of Prabhāsa, / worship only me with that praiseworthy mantra, are liberated; there is no doubt here.

A man who dwells there, whether with mantra or without mantra, / also attains that state which cannot be accomplished by sacrifices or gifts.

The self-manifest Maheśvara is visibly present in this sacred field, / and crores of Rudras are situated in Prabhāsa.

Meditating likewise on the syllable Oṃ, they dwell to the south of Someśa.

Whatever sacred fords there are within the womb of the cosmic egg, O lady of good vows, / they go to Someśvara on the fourteenth day of Vaiśākha.

Mind, intellect, egoity, desire and anger, and others— / these constantly protect Someśa, the destroyer of sins.

That goal is not found in Kurukṣetra, at Gaṅgādvāra, or at Tripuṣkara, / which is ordained for men who dwell in the sacred field of Prabhāsa.

Even creatures born in animal wombs who make their abode in Prabhāsa / and meet their end in the course of time attain the supreme goal.

That is the secret place of the God of gods, that sacred ford, that penance-grove; / there, the gods headed by Brahmā and led by Nārāyaṇa,

as well as yogins and followers of Sāṃkhya, devoted to me and intent upon me, / worship the eternal Lord at Prabhāsa.

For self-restrained ascetics, wandering should be for eight months; / and some say one should dwell fixedly for four months or for eight.

For those who have entered Prabhāsa, however, no wandering exists; / here yoga and liberation, so difficult for men to attain, are obtained.

Therefore, one should not leave Prabhāsa and go to another penance-grove. / Those fools who do not resort to Prabhāsa are shrouded in darkness;

they are born again and again amidst feces, urine, and semen. / Desire, anger, greed, hypocrisy, arrogance, envy,

sleep, torpor, laziness, and slander—these ten / constantly protect Someśa, the lord of sacred fords.

No sinner who dies in Prabhāsa goes to hell, / nor any man who dwells [there] with firm resolve as long as he lives.

Whatever auspicious reward is obtained through agnihotras, renunciation, well-kept hermitages, / by triple-staffed and single-staffed [ascetics], by Śaivas and Pāśupatas,

and by other ascetics, / all of that is obtained, O goddess, by the pilgrimage to holy Someśvara.

One indeed worships the liṅga, while another performs austerity; / between the two, the one who worships Someśa is superior.

Whatever is to be known in Yoga, Sāṃkhya, the Siddhānta, the Pāñcarātra, / and other treatises is firmly established in Prabhāsa.

And in the liṅga resides this entire world, both moving and unmoving; / therefore the god should always be worshipped in the liṅga with diligence.

My supreme form itself abides under the name of holy Someśa; / therefore I myself, through myself, am intent upon worshipping myself.

Wandering through many thousands of births, / who indeed attains that liberation without the worship of Someśa?

Whatever inauspicious deed was done with human understanding, / all of that vanishes through the worship of holy Someśvara.

Whatever sin has been committed by beings through crores of various births, / all of that comes to destruction through the worship of holy Someśvara.

Whatever sacred fords in this world are frequented by those seeking release from sin, / all of them indeed enter Prabhāsa for the sake of their purification.

He who is called Kālāgnirudra by those who expound the Veda / resides in Prabhāsa under the name of Bhairava.

Stationed within the sacred field, having assumed the form of Bhairava, / I destroy all the misdeeds of people, O ruler of gods!

Having roamed throughout the entire world, moving and unmoving, I have settled [here]; / therefore, bearing the name Bhairava, I reside in Prabhāsa.

Where fire performed austerities for a four-age cycle of divine years, / there, indeed, the liṅga arose in the Meghavāhana kalpa. // 71

O beautiful goddess, its glory is declared in the Veda with the words 'Agnim īḍe', / and it is called by all the gods by the name Kālāgnirudra. // 72

O ruler of the gods, three names are proclaimed: Agni, Īśa, and Ina. / Yet in every kalpa the names cannot be fully told, / O fair-faced one, even by Brahmā, because the kalpas are countless. // 73

And so this secret, highly concealed, O fair-faced one, / has been proclaimed to you by me out of great love and devotion. // 74

On the one side stands the entire world established in the ritual section, / through sacrifices, gifts, austerities, oblations, personal recitations, and libations to ancestors, // 75

through fasts, entire observances, and hundreds of cāndrāyaṇa penances, / through six-night and three-night fasts, and eminent journeys to sacred fords and other holy places, // 76

through the stages of life of various forms—renunciants and celibate students, / forest dwellers and householders devoted to Vedic rituals— // 77

and through other auspicious ways of life established on worldly paths. / Yet that supreme state, O goddess, cannot be seen anywhere [by such means], // 78

as long as one does not worship Someśa, the sovereign of liṅgas, O goddess. / Even in play, that supreme state is difficult for them to behold. // 79

Those who have worshipped the Lord of the Universe, Someśa, indeed Bhairava— / even those who have entered animal wombs: beasts, birds, and ants, // 80

those residing in water: worms, insects, and moths; / other motionless and moving beings, men, beasts, women, / children, the elderly, eunuchs, dogs, donkeys, crows, / outcasts, caṇḍālas, puṣkasas, śūdras, mlecchas, and whatever others are of impure birth, // 81–82

fools as well as scholars, and whatever other vile beings there are on earth— / all of them attain liberation if they die in auspicious Prabhāsa. // 83

By the fire of Rudra the all-destroying flame, and by the fire of Kalarāja, / all those creatures who die in auspicious Prabhāsa are consumed [and purified]. // 84

Yet my sacred field, Prabhāsa, O goddess, is hard for sinners to reach; / a sinful soul does not meet death there, O one praised by the world. // 85

By me Vighneśa was established on the southern side, / and Daṇḍapāṇi guards this sacred field on the north. // 86

Likewise, all the other leaders of gaṇas, obedient to my command, / protect the sacred field, O ruler of the gods; hear their names from me: // 87

Mahābala, Caṇḍīśa, Ghaṇṭākarṇa, Gomukha, / Vināyaka, Mahānāda, Kākavaktra, Śubhekṣaṇa, / Ekākṣa, Dundubhi, Caṇḍa, and likewise Tālajaṅgha, // 88

Bhūmidaṇḍa, Caṇḍa, Śaṅkukarṇa, Vaidhṛti, / Tālacaṇḍa, Mahātejas, Vikaṭāsya, Hayānana, // 89

Hastivaktra, Śvānavaktra, Biḍālavadana, / and others with faces of lions and tigers, as well as Vīrabhadra and the rest. // 90

Placing Vināyaka at their head, [they serve] the god of gods, the matted-haired one. / Eleven crores, thirteen millions, // 91

and one hundred million gaṇas resort to the sacred field of Prabhāsa. / Fierce at every gate, they hold tridents and clubs in their hands. // 92

They protect the sacred field of Prabhāsa, the very dwelling of the God of gods; / it is ordained that no one may enter with wicked intent. // 93

Surrounded by a hundred crore gaṇas at the eastern gate, / the gaṇa named Aṭṭahāsa protects Prabhāsa there. // 94

The gaṇa named Ghaṇṭākarṇa—dark-eyed, terrifying, and fierce— / surrounded by eighteen crores, guards the southern gate. // 95

Resorting to the western gate stands the gaṇa Viṣṭara; / Daṇḍapāṇi stands on the north of the God of gods, // 96

ever securing the welfare of the devout in Prabhāsa. / Likewise, Bhīṣaṇākṣa is in the northeast, and Chāgavaktraka in the southeast; // 97

Caṇḍanāda is in the southwest, and Bhairavānana in the northwest. / Nandin, Mahākāla, Daṇḍapāṇi, and Vināyaka— // 98

these bodyguards stand in the middle, surrounded by a hundred crore gaṇas. / Thus do numerous, innumerable lords of gaṇas protect [it]. // 99

Those whose minds are corrupted by the rise of Kali-age defilement / cannot reach that abode of the crescent-crested god. // 100

Having worshipped Someśa, the Lord of gods, the destroyer of sins, / gandharvas, kinnaras, yakṣas, apsarases, uragas, // 101

and siddhas attend upon Prabhāsa, having become invisible. / The siddhas living in Pātāla who dwell in the seven realms / circumambulate Someśa, who is Kālabhairava. // 102

Whatever sacred fords and holy sanctuaries there are on earth— / Lākuli, Bhārabhūti, Āṣāḍhi, Daṇḍa, // 103

Puṣkara, Naimiṣa, and also Amareśa, / Bhairava, Madhyama, Kāla, Kedāra, Kaṇavīraka, // 104

Hariścandra, Śaileśa, Vastrāntikeśvara, / Aṭṭahāsa, Mahendra, Śrīśaila, and Gayā— // 105

all these sacred fords circumambulate the lord, the god Someśvara, / and praise the liṅga there. // 106

Brahmā, Janārdana, and whatever other gods abide in the world, / stand near the fire-liṅga and praise it at the twilight hour. // 107

Sixty thousand crores and sixty hundred crores [of beings] / all go to Someśvara on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Māgha. // 108

And whoever at that time offers a blanket of ghee upon Someśa— // 109

Ghee, sugarcane juice, sesame seeds, milk, water perfumed with camphor, / combined together with saffron: this is the blanket of ghee. // 110

This secret, dear to me, should be performed on Śivarātri; / the merit acquired when this is done cannot be described. // 111

There on the southern side, O goddess, one should first worship / the self-manifest Vināyaka, if one desires one's own success. // 112

And of all saline lands, the Prabhāsa sacred field is the supreme saline land; / and of all seats, it is the seat; and of all sacred fields, it is the best. / And of all questions, this question is the highest.

Whatever yogins exist, numbering in hundreds of millions, / their delight is solely in the Prabhāsa sacred field and nowhere else.

In the northeast portion from the liṅga, O beautiful goddess, she is situated.

That auspicious portion named Umā, who was described by me to you, / is said to be Satī, O goddess, the daughter of Dakṣa in ancient times.

Having abandoned her body out of anger toward Dakṣa, that supreme portion / was born in the house of Himavat and became renowned by the name of Umā.

Therefore, O goddess, [the goddesses] residing there with you are remembered as boongivers; / and indeed, ninety million Cāmuṇḍās are present in that sacred field by themselves.

If one worships you there on the bright eighth day in the month of Caitra, / for twenty-one births poverty will not befall him.

If a new moon day combined with Monday is ever obtained, / having beheld Someśvara on that day, one attains the fruit of ten million sacrifices.

This sacred field is extremely secret and destroys all sins, / where eleven crores of Rudras reside together.

Here twelve sun gods have assembled, and eight Vasus, / gandharvas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, and innumerable lords of gaṇas.

Umā too is situated at the side there, praised by all the gods, / and Nandī, who is the commander of gaṇas for the trident-bearing God of gods,

and the other leaders of gaṇas who accompany Mahākāla, / as well as Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and the goddess Sarasvatī,

and other sacred streams, rivers, and likewise lakes, / oceans, mountains, wells, and trees—

everything stationary and moving has gathered in Prabhāsa, / and other gaṇas are established there in Prabhāsa.

They have not all been spoken of by me, [save] here and there by indication. / Endowed with supreme devotion, O goddess of gods, one should worship the third Vināyaka / there, if one desires the fruit of the sacred field.

Twelve, eight, and forty crores / of rivers stand at the entrance of Agnitīrtha, O beautiful woman.

If any stepping over the leftover offerings was done through ignorance, / all of that dissolves upon the darśana of Agnitīrtha.

O goddess, what is the use of speaking much? This sacred field of great splendor / cannot be described to you even in hundreds of crores of kalpas.

Whatever gods are in the atmosphere and on earth, and whatever sacred fords are in all directions, / the sacred field of Prabhāsa is indeed the foremost of them, O goddess, and Someśvara is the highest.

Whatever beings are egg-born, sprout-born, sweat-born, or womb-born, / O goddess, when their breath has departed in Prabhāsa, they attain supreme liberation; there is no doubt here.

Thus has this wonderful and inconceivable deed of the God of gods, Śaṃkara, been told to you, O goddess, / which destroys the impurities of the Kali age; anyone in the whole world may attain it if he constantly recites, hears, or praises it in this manner.

Thus ends the fourth chapter, titled 'Description of the Extent of the Sacred Field', in the first Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya of the seventh Prabhāsakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].