The Glory of Koti Tirtha

Verse 1 (skanda.5.358.1)

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच। ततो गच्छेद्धराधीश कोटितीर्थमनुत्तमम्। यत्र सिद्धा महाभागाः कोटिसंख्या महर्षयः

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca| tato gacchedharādhīśa koṭitīrthamanuttamam| yatra siddhā mahābhāgāḥ koṭisaṁkhyā maharṣayaḥ

Shri Markandeya said: O lord of the earth, then one should go to the unequalled Koti Tirtha, where illustrious great sages, numbering in the crores, attained accomplishment.

Verse 2 (skanda.5.358.2)

तपः कृत्वा सुविपुलमृषिभिः स्थापितः शिवः। तथा कोटीश्वरी देवी चामुण्डा महिषार्दिनी

tapaḥ kṛtvā suvipulamṛṣibhiḥ sthāpitaḥ śivaḥ| tathā koṭīśvarī devī cāmuṇḍā mahiṣārdinī

Having performed vast austerity, the sages installed Shiva there, and also the goddess Kotishvari Chamunda, the destroyer of the buffalo-demon Mahisha.

Verse 3 (skanda.5.358.3)

कृष्णपक्षे चतुर्दश्यां मासि भाद्रपदे नृप। तीर्थकोटीः समाहूय मुनिभिः स्थापितः शिवः

kṛṣṇapakṣe caturdaśyāṁ māsi bhādrapade nṛpa| tīrthakoṭīḥ samāhūya munibhiḥ sthāpitaḥ śivaḥ

O king, on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhadrapada, having invoked crores of tirthas, Shiva was installed there by the sages.

Verse 4 (skanda.5.358.4)

तस्यां तिथौ च हस्तर्क्षं सर्वपापप्रणाशनम्। तत्र तीर्थे तदा गत्वा स्नानं कृत्वा समाहितः

tasyāṁ tithau ca hastarkṣaṁ sarvapāpapraṇāśanam| tatra tīrthe tadā gatvā snānaṁ kṛtvā samāhitaḥ

On that lunar day, the conjunction with the Hasta constellation destroys all sin; going to that tirtha at that time and bathing there with a focused mind—

Verse 5 (skanda.5.358.5)

नरकादुद्धरत्याशु पुरुषानेकविंशतिम्। तिलोदकप्रदानेन किमुत श्राद्धदो नरः

narakāduddharatyāśu puruṣānekaviṁśatim| tilodakapradānena kimuta śrāddhado naraḥ

he swiftly delivers twenty-one generations of ancestors from hell, merely by the offering of sesame and water — how much more so a man who performs the full shraddha rite!

Verse 6 (skanda.5.358.6)

स्नानं दानं जपो होमः स्वाध्यायो देवतार्चनम्। तस्य तीर्थस्य योगेन सर्वं कोटिगुणं भवेत्

snānaṁ dānaṁ japo homaḥ svādhyāyo devatārcanam| tasya tīrthasya yogena sarvaṁ koṭiguṇaṁ bhavet

Bathing, giving gifts, recitation, fire-oblation, sacred study, and worship of the gods — through the power of this tirtha, all of these become a crore times more fruitful.