Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 31
कदाचित्सत्यलोके सौ पातालमधितिष्ठति । गिरिसानुषु शेतेऽसावशिवोपि शिवः स्मृतः
kadācitsatyaloke sau pātālamadhitiṣṭhati | girisānuṣu śete'sāvaśivopi śivaḥ smṛtaḥ
Mitunter weilt er in Satyaloka, mitunter herrscht er in Pātāla. An Berghängen liegt er; obgleich er «unheilvoll» erscheint, wird er als Śiva, der Heilvolle, erinnert.
Deductive (Vastrāpatha-kṣetra-māhātmya narrative voice)
Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Śiva’s presence shown simultaneously in three registers: a luminous Satyaloka above, a shadowed Pātāla below, and the central mountain slope where the ash-smeared Lord reclines in yogic ease—paradoxically ‘aśiva’ in appearance yet radiantly Śiva.
FAQs
Śiva pervades all realms—from highest to lowest—and even what appears fearsome is ultimately the auspicious power that protects and transforms.
The verse belongs to the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra-māhātmya, situating cosmic Śiva within the local sanctity of Vastrāpatha.
No explicit ritual instruction appears in this verse.