Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 21
अमृतेनोदरस्थेन म्रियन्ते सर्वदेवताः । कण्ठस्थितविषेणापि यो जीवति स पातु वः
amṛtenodarasthena mriyante sarvadevatāḥ | kaṇṭhasthitaviṣeṇāpi yo jīvati sa pātu vaḥ
حتى الآلهةُ تهلكُ إن احتُبِسَ الرحيقُ في البطن؛ أمّا مَن يحيا ولو كان السُّمُّ قائمًا في الحلق—فليحفظْكم ذلكَ الحامي.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (contextual attribution within Purāṇic narration)
Listener: Śaunaka and other sages
Scene: A symbolic hymn: on one side, devas weakened despite ‘nectar in the belly’ (unassimilated immortality); on the other, Śiva as Nīlakaṇṭha stands serene with blue throat, holding the world’s poison, granting protection to the assembly.
FAQs
True divinity is shown by self-sacrificing protection—bearing poison for the world’s welfare, as Śiva is famed to do.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a protective benediction within the Dvārakā Māhātmya narrative frame.
A maṅgala-prārthanā (protective invocation) is implied—seeking protection from the one symbolically identified with poison-in-the-throat.