Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 58
यस्मिन्काले ह्यनावृष्टिर्जायते कृत्तिकासुत । स्नापयेद्विधिवन्मां च कलशैर्विविधैः शुभैः
yasminkāle hyanāvṛṣṭirjāyate kṛttikāsuta | snāpayedvidhivanmāṃ ca kalaśairvividhaiḥ śubhaiḥ
يا ابنَ الكِرْتّيكات، كلّما حلّ القحطُ وانحبس المطر، فليُغسَّل تمثالي على وفق الشريعة بطقوسٍ صحيحة، وبكلاساتٍ (kalaśa) كثيرةٍ مباركةٍ على أنواعٍ شتّى.
Kumāreśvara (Skanda/Kārttikeya) (contextual attribution)
Tirtha: Kumāreśvara (temple context)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Addressed as ‘Kṛttikā-suta’ in the verse (speaker is likely another narrator addressing Skanda, but the instruction itself concerns worship of ‘mām’—the deity speaking). Contextually treated as Skanda’s self-instruction to devotees.
Scene: A drought-stricken landscape; devotees carry many decorated kalaśas; priests perform abhiṣeka over the deity image; clouds begin to gather as a sign of grace.
FAQs
Community distress like drought is met through dharmic ritual—devotional abhiṣeka performed with proper procedure.
The verse focuses on the Kumāreśvara cultic setting; the broader adhyāya situates it near the Mahī–Sāgara saṅgama.
Perform vidhivat snāpana/abhiṣeka of the deity using multiple auspicious kalaśas when drought occurs.