The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Greatness of Gautameshvara (Gautama-ishvara) which is chapter 80 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 eightieth chapter of the Prabhasa-kshetra-mahatmya of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 80 - Greatness of Gautameśvara (Gautama-īśvara)
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Īśvara said:
1-5. To the east thereof (i.e. Lakulīśa) and to the west of Daityasūdana, there is a sin-destroying Liṅga Gautameśvara by name. O goddess, it is stationed within a distance of five Dhanus. It bestows all desires. O beautiful lady, it was propitiated by Śalya, the king of Madra[1]. After propitiating Maheśvara, a severe penance was performed by him.
Any other man who propitiates that deity thus will attain the greatest Siddhi like Śalya, a king of exalted mind.
He who bathes the deity with milk on the fourteenth lunar day in the bright half of Citrā and with scented water too, attains the benefit of a horse-sacrifice. Further, he must worship the deity duly with excellent flowers with great devotion.
6. O goddess, by visiting that Liṅga all the sins committed mentally, verbally and physically perish.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva (Paṇḍavas).