Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 20
अहो पापीयसी घोरा चांडाली कथमर्हति । दिव्यं विमानमारोढुं शुनीवाध्वरमंडलम्
aho pāpīyasī ghorā cāṃḍālī kathamarhati | divyaṃ vimānamāroḍhuṃ śunīvādhvaramaṃḍalam
Hélas ! Cette femme, si pécheresse et terrible, une Caṇḍālī, comment serait-elle digne de monter dans le vimāna divin, telle une chienne entrant dans l’enceinte du sacrifice ?
Yamadūta
Scene: A divine vimāna descends; celestial attendants prepare to lift a marginalized woman while orthodox onlookers recoil, comparing her entry to a she-dog in a yajña enclosure; tension between heaven’s invitation and society’s rejection.
FAQs
The verse dramatizes a common objection—judging worthiness by sin and social stigma—setting the stage for the doctrine of Śiva’s grace surpassing such measures.
No tīrtha is named; the imagery uses the sacrificial arena as a metaphor for exclusion.
No prescription; it references the adhvara-maṇḍala (sacrificial ground) as a cultural symbol of ritual purity.