Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 18
यामाहुः प्रकृतिं तज्ज्ञाः पदार्थानां विचक्षणाः । पुरुषत्वे प्रकृतित्वे च कारणं परमेश्वरः
yāmāhuḥ prakṛtiṃ tajjñāḥ padārthānāṃ vicakṣaṇāḥ | puruṣatve prakṛtitve ca kāraṇaṃ parameśvaraḥ
Ce que les connaisseurs de la vérité—habiles à discerner les principes de l’existence—nomment « Prakṛti » : Parameśvara seul est la cause ultime, tant de l’état de Puruṣa que de l’état de Prakṛti.
Śiva (deduced from immediate continuation where Mahādeva addresses Devī)
Scene: A sage-like assembly of tattva-jñas points to a diagrammatic cosmos: Prakṛti as a flowing matrix, Puruṣa as luminous consciousness, both arising from a higher radiance labeled Parameśvara above them.
FAQs
All cosmic principles—whether ‘spirit’ (Puruṣa) or ‘nature’ (Prakṛti)—ultimately depend on Parameśvara as their root cause.
The teaching occurs within the Revā Khaṇḍa of the Āvantya Khaṇḍa, associated with the sacred Revā (Narmadā) region and its tīrthas.
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it is a doctrinal statement establishing Śiva’s supremacy as the causal principle.