Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 42
इति संचिंत्य बिल्वस्य वृक्षस्याधो व्यवस्थितः । जजाप मन्त्रान्रुद्रस्य अंगुष्ठाग्रेण धिष्ठितः
iti saṃciṃtya bilvasya vṛkṣasyādho vyavasthitaḥ | jajāpa mantrānrudrasya aṃguṣṭhāgreṇa dhiṣṭhitaḥ
وهكذا تفكّر، فاستقرّ تحت شجرة البِلفا، وشرع يَجْبَةُ مَنتراتِ رُدرا، جالسًا في تركيزٍ ثابت، متّخذًا طرفَ الإبهام سندًا (في هيئةٍ يوغيةٍ محكمة).
Narrative voice (Maheshvara Khanda context: Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa relating events)
Listener: Bhārata (addressed later in the sequence)
Scene: An ascetic sits motionless beneath a spreading bilva tree, eyes half-closed, fingers poised with thumb-tip support, silently reciting Rudra-mantras; the grove is still, with faint aura suggesting tapas-heat and Śiva’s presence.
FAQs
Focused japa with steadiness of posture and mind is portrayed as the heart of effective tapas.
The verse highlights the sacred setting (beneath a bilva tree) but does not name the tīrtha explicitly.
Rudra-mantra japa performed in a fixed posture, in a sanctified place associated with bilva.