Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 21
अतीता ये विधातारो भविष्यंति च येऽधुना । तावत्तद्वर्त्तते नाम यावदन्योष्टवार्षिकः । संध्यासंध्यांशभेदेन विष्ण्वनंतसनातनाः
atītā ye vidhātāro bhaviṣyaṃti ca ye'dhunā | tāvattadvarttate nāma yāvadanyoṣṭavārṣikaḥ | saṃdhyāsaṃdhyāṃśabhedena viṣṇvanaṃtasanātanāḥ
As many cosmic ordainers (vidhātṛs) as have passed, and as many as exist now or will come in the future—so long does that particular divine Name remain in force, until another cycle of eight years arises. Thus, according to the divisions of the twilight periods and their portions, the Lord is praised as Viṣṇu, Ananta, and Sanātana.
Īśvara (Śiva)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī
Scene: A symbolic wheel of time: successive vidhātṛs (cosmic ordainers) pass like figures around a kala-chakra; at the center the Lord shines with three inscriptions—Viṣṇu, Ananta, Sanātana—while dawn and dusk bands (sandhyā) frame the scene.
FAQs
Divine Names are revealed according to cosmic cycles; remembering them aligns the devotee with eternal dharma beyond changing ages.
Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Prabhāsatīrtha region), within the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa’s Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya.
No explicit rite is prescribed here; the emphasis is on understanding and reciting the appropriate divine Names according to cosmic divisions.