Chapter 93 - Greatness of Mahākāleśvara (Mahākāla-īśvara)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Īśvara said:

1-2. Thereafter, O beautiful lady, a pilgrim should go to the shrine of Hara called Mahākāleśvara situated slightly to the north rather to the north-west of Aghoreśa within a distance of thirty Dhanus. O goddess, on being listened to, it destroys sins. O fair lady, formerly in Kṛtayuga it was remembered as Citrāṅgadeśvara.

3. O goddess, in Kali age, its name is proclaimed as Mahākālveśvara. The great Rudra in the form of Kāla is stationed in that Liṅga.

4-5. O my beloved, he is the preceptor of the mobile and immobile beings. The Lord destroys the arrogance of Devas and Dānavas. O my beloved, in the form of the Sun-god, he swallows the whole of the Cosmic Egg. O goddess, that Lord of great lustre is stationed in that Liṅga. One who devoutly worships the Liṅga of mine early in the morning uttering the six syllabled Mantra conquers death in a moment. I am fond of that Liṅga.

6-7. Especially on the eighth day in the dark half, the devotee should perform the adoration at nightfall and burn Guggula along with ghee duly. Bhairava exonerates a hundred crimes of his. Great sages praise gifting cows at that holy spot.

8-9. Certainly a person who gifts cows here redeems ten generations before and ten generations after him.

A man who mutters Śatarudriya hymn in the spot to the south of the Lord, will uplift all the members of his father’s and mother’s family. By visiting Hara named Kāleśvara, one dispels all the sins committed in childhood, youth or old age.

10. If a person performs the rite of Ghṛtakaṃbala (covering the Liṅga with ghee) at the time of the northern transit of the Sun, he never again takes another birth in the world.

11. By visiting Mahākāleśvara, one can avert the eventuality of becoming poor, miserable and unlucky in the course of seven subsequent births.

12. He is reborn in a dignified well-to-do family. He will have even more devotion to the adoration of Mahākāleśvara.

13-14. Thus, O my beloved, the description of Mahākāleśvara has been given by me briefly. O goddess, there is a Gaṇa named Citrāṅgada. The deity Mahākāleśvara was formerly propitiated by him for a period of a thousand years according to the reckoning of Devas. Hence it became well-known as Citrāṅgadeśvara.