Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 27
अकुलीनो ह्यसौ विप्रा नष्टो नष्टप्रियः सदा । भूतप्रेतपिशाचानां पतिरेको दुरत्ययः
akulīno hyasau viprā naṣṭo naṣṭapriyaḥ sadā | bhūtapretapiśācānāṃ patireko duratyayaḥ
« Ô brāhmanes, il n’est point de noble lignée—ruiné, toujours épris de ce qui est perdu. Lui seul est le seigneur des bhūtas, des pretas et des piśācas—difficile à vaincre. »
Same hostile/obstructive figure (contextual), speaking disparagingly of Rudra/Śiva
Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedārakṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame)
Scene: A tense sacrificial assembly where a speaker denounces a formidable figure as ‘low-born’ yet terrifying—lord of bhūtas, pretas, and piśācas—hinting at Rudra’s overwhelming, liminal power.
FAQs
It shows how ignorance can misread ascetic divinity as inauspicious; Purāṇas often reverse such slander by revealing the deity’s true supremacy.
Kedāra-kṣetra is the contextual setting; the narrative tension functions to heighten the later affirmation of Śiva’s greatness in the region.
None; it is descriptive (and derogatory) characterization within the story.