The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Greatness of Kalabhairava Shmashana which is chapter 201 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 two hundred first chapter of the Prabhasa-kshetra-mahatmya of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 201 - Greatness of Kālabhairava Śmaśāna
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Īśvara said:
1-3. At that spot, O great goddess, is the cremation ground (of) Kālabhairava. From Brahmakuṇḍa, O beautiful lady, up to Lord Kṛtasmara (is the extent).
Living beings who die due to the lapse of time and get cremated there, attain salvation even if they are great sinners.
O great goddess, the spot extends from Kṛtasmara up to the deity Maṅkīśvara. That portion (of) the great cremation ground bestows stopping of recurrent birth.
4-5. At that place (Cremation ground) where there is the flow of Viṣuva[1] (Suṣumṇā Nāḍī) of all living beings, is the holy spot of Uṣara (Arid land—no rebirth-growing). It is a favourite of mine always. I do not leave it even at the end of a Kalpa. I like it more than Avimukta” (i.e. Banaras).
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Viṣuva means ‘equinox’ when day and night are of equal duration. But here the term is used for a state when the breath flows simultaneously through both nostrils known as Sūrya and Candra Nāḍī.