Bhāskareśvara
Bhāskareśvara · bhāskara-īśvara, “the Īśvara of Bhāskara (the Sun)”
Bhāskareśvara is a Śiva-liṅga in Ekāmra-kshetra in Utkala. It is called Bhāskareśvara, “the Īśvara of Bhāskara”, because Āditya, Bhagavān Sūrya, worshipped it. Beside it is a kuṇḍa. In Chapter 41 of the Brahma Purāṇa, Vyāsa tells the munis how Brahmā, Lokeśvara Caturmukha, described Ekāmra-kshetra to the munis; among its holy places he names this liṅga. Those who bathe in its kuṇḍa and take darśana of Bhāskareśvara go to Śivaloka, enjoy its bhogas for a kalpa, and in their next birth attain Śiva-yoga and moksha.
The bath and the darśana
Brahmā says: the liṅga in that kshetra is called Bhāskareśvara; it was worshipped by Āditya. Those who bathe in the kuṇḍa there and take darśana of Bhāskareśvara mount a vimāna and, hearing the songs of the gandharvas, go to Śivaloka. There, full of joy, they enjoy delightful bhogas for one kalpa. When their puṇya is spent they come to the earth and are born in the house of a yogī. They become brāhmaṇas who have mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, who seek the good of all beings, who see all as equal, and who are skilled in the śāstras of moksha. They attain Śiva-yoga and reach moksha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 41
Ekāmra-kshetra
Brahmā says: “Hear: I tell you of the puṇya-kshetra famed as Ekāmra, which takes away all pāpa, is supremely hard to reach, has a crore of liṅgas, is equal to Kāśī-kshetra, and has eight tīrthas.” In a former kalpa a single mango tree (eka-āmra) stood there, and so the kshetra got its name. Its city is full of learned men, wealth and grain, gopuras, white mansions, ramparts, gardens and unbroken festivals; its people keep their own dharma, and its gardens are like Nandana-vana. Parama Śiva is ever present there. The area of two and a half yojanas on every side of this Śiva-kshetra gives bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (moksha). One who bathes in Ekāmra-kshetra, the Śiva-kshetra equal to Kāśī, surely attains moksha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 41
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 41