The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Greatness of Vrishabhadhvajeshvara (Vrishabhadhvaja-ishvara) which is chapter 220 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 twentieth chapter of the Prabhasa-kshetra-mahatmya of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 220 - Greatness of Vṛṣabhadhvajeśvara (Vṛṣabhadhvaja-īśvara)
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Īśvara said:
1-6. Thereafter, O great goddess, a pilgrim should go the shrine of the deity named Vṛṣabhadhvajeśvara, adored by all the three worlds. It is situated to the south thereof.
What is the immutable and unmanifest Supreme Being, than which there is nothing greater has neither beginning nor end. It is comprehensible only through Yoga which is on a par with Vṛṣabhadhvaja.
O goddess, it is full of all miracles. It is comprehensible through intellect. It is free from ailments. It has hands and feet everywhere. It has eyes, heads and mouths everywhere. The following sixteen (?) kings are blessed: Pṛthu, Marut, Bharata, Śaśabindu, Gaya, Śibi, Rāma, Aṃbarīṣa, Māndhātā, Dilīpa, Bhagīratha, Suhotra, Rantideva, Yayāti, and Sagara (? fifteen?). They resorted to Prabhāsa Kṣetra and propitiated Vṛṣabhadhvajeśa Sthāṇu for a long time, performed Yajñas and went to heaven.
7. I tell the truth. I tell you what is beneficial. I tell you the essence repeatedly. In the insignificant damned world it is the worship of Śiva that is of some essence.
8. Birth and death recur again and again. There is pain and old age. Like a Ghaṭiyantra (wheel-contrivance for lifting water) this happens always but in the case of a devotee of Śiva it is not so.
9. The Śveta (white) knot of the worldly existence is difficult to cut. Let the adoration of Bhava be pursued. It puts an end to the worldly existence (Saṃsāra).
10. If there is devotion in anyone for Śiva, it is as good as though the Cintāmaṇi (Philosopher’s Stone) is in his house. It is as though the Kalpa tree is in his family. It is as though Kubera is his servant.
11. Devotion to the Bull-emblemed One (Śiva) is the very fortune of men, if it is of the desirable nature. The very form is conducive to welfare.
12. By adoring Maheśvara here, even with five flowers, a man attains the fruit of ten horse-sacrifices.
13. (A replica in gold or a real) ‘bull should be gifted at this shrine in the presence of Vṛṣabhadhvaja by those who desire to obtain the fruit of a perfect pilgrimage, for the sake of quelling all sins.