The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Greatness of Rudra Lake (Rudrahrada) which is chapter 55 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 fifty-fifth chapter of the Arbuda-khanda of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 55 - Greatness of Rudra Lake (Rudrahrada)
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Pulastya said:
1. Then the best of kings, visit the auspicious lake, equally a promoter of happiness which is called Rudra [i.e., Rudrahrada]. A bath here attended with devotion results in a man attaining the chief position among attendants.
2. In olden times, the God—bearer of the flag on the back of a bull (i.e., Lord Śiva) along with his attendants killed the demon Andhaka and thereafter took a bath here in the lake. That is how this lake acquired the formidable name Rudra [i.e., Rudrahrada].
3. The virtues of all the centres of pilgrimage accrue on their own to a man, the great king, by virtue of his having a bath here on the fourteenth day of a Month.