Chapter 89 - The Greatness of Pūtikeśvara (pūtika-īśvara-tīrtha)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

1-5. Thereafter, O great king, a person should go to the excellent Pūtikeśvara which is destructive of all sins. It is situated on the southern bank of Narmadā. It was installed by Jāṃbavanta who sought the welfare of all the worlds.

There was a king named Prasenajit. The jewel from his^[1] chest was taken out, where a wound had been caused, which had become foul and putrid. He performed a penance there at the Tīrtha and the wound healed.

The excellent Pūtikeśvara Liṅga was installed^[2] by him. O most excellent one among the descendants of Bharata, the man who devoutly takes his holy bath there attains all cherished desires after worshipping Parameśvara. O king, on the eighth and the fourteenth days in the dark half of a month and at all times, devotees should adore the Lord. They never go to the abode of Yama.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Here the reading should have been ‘tasya’ and not ‘tasyām as it cannot be construed in this context which refers to King Presenajit [Prasenajit?].

[2]:

There appears some confusion of the author. According to BhP X.56.13-14 a lion killed Prasenajit and took away the dazzling Syamantaka gem from him; Jāmbavān killed the lion and took away the gem. Here Jāmbavān is said to have taken the gem from the chest of Prasenajit; so it was Prasenajit who was wounded and the wound was healed at this Tīrtha. So here ‘tena’ stands for Prasenajit and not Jāmbavān unless we imagine that seeing the healing effect of the water of the Tīrtha in the case of Prasenajit, Jāmbavān installed the Liṅga.