Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 19
गृध्रो वै कुंजरस्यासीन्मेषस्याभूच्च राक्षसः । कालनेमेर्महाकालो निमेरासीन्महातिमिः
gṛdhro vai kuṃjarasyāsīnmeṣasyābhūcca rākṣasaḥ | kālanemermahākālo nimerāsīnmahātimiḥ
Pour Kuñjara, l’emblème fut bien un vautour; pour Meṣa, un rākṣasa. Pour Kālanemi, ce fut Mahākāla; et pour Nimi, une grande ténèbre (mahātimi).
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), narrating to the sages
Scene: Four standards rise: Kuñjara’s bears a vulture; Meṣa’s a fierce rākṣasa figure; Kālanemi’s shows Mahākāla—dark, time-death personified; Nimi’s is an expanse of thick darkness like a black pennant swallowing light.
FAQs
Adharma aligns itself with death, darkness, and predation—yet these are ultimately subordinate to the divine order that governs time (kāla).
None; “Mahākāla” here functions as a fearsome emblem/name, not a direct praise of Ujjain’s Mahākāleśvara tīrtha in this verse.
None.