The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Greatness of Arkasthala which is chapter 175 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 one hundred seventy-fifth chapter of the Prabhasa-kshetra-mahatmya of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 175 - Greatness of Arkasthala
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Īśvara said:
1-5. Thereafter, O great goddess, a pilgrim should go to the splendid sacred shrine of Arkasthala which is destructive of all sins. It is situated on the south-east corner thereof (i.e. of Kuntīśvara).
By visiting the deity, O goddess, a man will never meet with poverty during seven successive births. He can never be reduced to piteous plight.
O my beloved, visiting the deity dispels ten types of Kuṣṭha (leprosy). By viewing the Sun-god of Arkasthala, one gets the same benefit as is obtained by gifting a hundred cows in Kurukṣetra.
The pilgrim should take holy bath in the Tīrtha called Trisaṅgama (three confluences) on seven Sundays, feed Brāhmaṇas and make the gift of a buffalo. He is honoured in Svargaloka for a thousand years according to the reckoning of Devas.