The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Greatness of Indreshvara (Indra-ishvara) which is chapter 295 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 ninety-fifth chapter of the Prabhasa-kshetra-mahatmya of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 295 - Greatness of Indreśvara (Indra-īśvara)
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Īśvara said:
1-4. O my beloved, there is the excellent Indrasthāna to the north-east thereof (i.e. the shrine of Ajoganḍheśvara) within five Gavyūtis. There is the lake Candrasaras there, not very far in the northern direction. O fair lady, the water of this Candrasaras is destructive of old age and poverty.
It gets augmented in accordance with the waxing of the moon and it gets decreased as the moon gets waned. Even in this sinful era, this is sometimes visible. O great goddess, even if a thousand sins have been committed, if one takes his holy ablution therein the sins disappear. One need not hesitate to think thus.
5-6. Indra formerly performed a Yajña with liberal Dakṣiṇā there, O fair lady, for a period of thousands of years. He did so after installing the (Liṅga) of Śiva called Indreśvara, the Lord who destroys all sins. Indra was chagrined due to the fact that he had been cursed by Gautama. Further Indra had become excessively frightened of the great sin as a result of his affair with Ahalyā.
7. A man who takes his holy bath in the Candra Tīrtha, offers libation to the Pitṛs and Devatās and adores Indreśvara gets liberated. There is no doubt about it.