Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 21
अमृतेनोदरस्थेन म्रियन्ते सर्वदेवताः । कण्ठस्थितविषेणापि यो जीवति स पातु वः
amṛtenodarasthena mriyante sarvadevatāḥ | kaṇṭhasthitaviṣeṇāpi yo jīvati sa pātu vaḥ
অমৃতও যদি উদরে আবদ্ধ থাকে তবে সকল দেবতাই মরে যায়; কিন্তু কণ্ঠে বিষ স্থিত থাকলেও যিনি জীবিত থাকেন—সেই (নীলকণ্ঠ শিব) তোমাদের রক্ষা করুন।
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.