Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 195
ये पापिनोऽप्यधर्मिष्ठा अंधा मूकाश्च पंगवः । कुलहीना दुरात्मानः श्वपचा अपि मानवाः
ye pāpino'pyadharmiṣṭhā aṃdhā mūkāśca paṃgavaḥ | kulahīnā durātmānaḥ śvapacā api mānavāḥ
Même ceux qui sont pécheurs et voués à l’adharma—aveugles, muets ou boiteux; sans noble lignée, d’âme mauvaise, même les hommes nés parmi les cuiseurs de chair de chien—
Lomaśa (deduced: Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narration to sages)
Tirtha: Kedāra/Kedāranātha (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Viprāḥ (brāhmaṇas) as immediate addressees; broader implied audience is all beings
Scene: A diverse assembly: sinners seeking refuge, people with blindness/muteness/lameness, those shunned by society, all turning toward Śiva’s teaching with hope; the teacher’s compassion dominates the scene.
FAQs
Social status, bodily limitation, or a sinful past does not bar one from spiritual uplift when devotion to Śiva is present (continued in the next verse).
The teaching occurs in Kedārakhaṇḍa, aligning with the glorification of Kedāra as a Śaiva sacred geography, though this line lists categories of people rather than naming a tirtha.
No explicit ritual is given here; it sets up the claim that Śiva-bhakti grants divine proximity.