The Skanda Purana

by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words

This page describes The Greatness of Gautameshvara (gautama-ishvara-tirtha) which is chapter 74 of the English translation of the Skanda Purana, the largest of the eighteen Mahapuranas, preserving the ancient Indian society and Hindu traditions in an encyclopedic format, detailling on topics such as dharma (virtous lifestyle), cosmogony (creation of the universe), mythology (itihasa), genealogy (vamsha) etc. This is the seventy-fourth chapter of the Reva-khanda of the Avantya-khanda of the Skanda Purana.

Chapter 74 - The Greatness of Gautameśvara (gautama-īśvara-tīrtha)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

1-6. There is an excellent Tīrtha on the northern bank of Revā. It is destructive of all sins in the mortal world. It is (known) by the name Gautameśvara. It has been established by Gautama himself, with a desire for the welfare of all the worlds. O Yudhiṣṭhira, this Tīrtha is in the form of a flight of stairs unto heaven for all men. Go there with great devotion to the place where the Lord, the preceptor of the universe, is present for the sake of the destruction of sins. He is also the bestower of a residence in Svarga.

The Tīrtha is conducive to the augmentation of blessedness. It bestows victory. It is destructive of miseries. By means of a single offering of balls of rice there a devotee shall redeem three generations of his family.

At the behest of Gautama, everything that is given with devotion, whether meagre or much, shall become a hundred thousand times (more beneficial) as stated by Rudra. This is the greatest Tīrtha of all Tīrthas.

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