Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 142
शुष्काणि चैव पर्णानि नाशितानि तया यदा । अपर्णेति च विख्याता बभुव तनुमध्यमा
śuṣkāṇi caiva parṇāni nāśitāni tayā yadā | aparṇeti ca vikhyātā babhuva tanumadhyamā
Lorsqu’elle renonça même aux feuilles sèches, on la connut sous le nom d’« Aparṇā » (« celle qui n’a plus de feuilles »). Ainsi la fine de taille devint célèbre sous cette appellation.
Narrator (within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa context, traditionally Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa)
Tirtha: Kedāra-tapas-kṣetra (Aparṇā-smṛti)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Girijā relinquishes even dry leaves; the moment of total renunciation crystallizes into her famed name ‘Aparṇā’, the slender-waisted ascetic radiant with tapas.
FAQs
Names in Purāṇic tradition often encode spiritual achievement; ‘Aparṇā’ signifies the pinnacle of renunciation and tapas.
Kedāra is the implied sacred context where this famed austerity—and thus the epithet Aparṇā—takes prominence.
It describes an extreme fasting discipline (renouncing even leaves), a model of tapas rather than a temple-ritual instruction.