Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 27
कपालमालाभरणश्चिताभस्म बिभर्ति यः । अपवित्रतया शंभुर्नाहूतस्तु तथाविधः
kapālamālābharaṇaścitābhasma bibharti yaḥ | apavitratayā śaṃbhurnāhūtastu tathāvidhaḥ
যি কপালমালাৰ অলংকাৰ ধাৰে আৰু চিতাৰ ভস্ম বহন কৰে—সেই শম্ভুক ‘অপবিত্ৰ’ বুলি ধৰি, সেই ৰূপতেই নিমন্ত্ৰণ কৰা নহ’ল।
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic voice within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Śambhu stands in fierce ascetic splendor—skull-garlanded, smeared with cremation ash—while a formal assembly hesitates and excludes him, revealing the tension between social purity codes and divine transcendence.
FAQs
External notions of purity can misjudge the Supreme; Śiva’s cremation-ground emblems signify transcendence beyond social and ritual categories.
The verse occurs within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya’s broader glorification, using theological contrast to heighten reverence for Śiva and sacred places.
No prescription; it narrates an exclusion based on perceived impurity, setting up a dharmic/theological point.