Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 98
त्रैलोक्यदहने प्रौढं प्राप्तं हंतुं दिवौकसः । अत ऊर्ध्वं दिशः सर्वा व्याप्तं कृत्स्नं नभस्तलम् । ग्रसितुं सर्वभूतानां कालकूटं समभ्ययात्
trailokyadahane prauḍhaṃ prāptaṃ haṃtuṃ divaukasaḥ | ata ūrdhvaṃ diśaḥ sarvā vyāptaṃ kṛtsnaṃ nabhastalam | grasituṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ kālakūṭaṃ samabhyayāt
Le poison Kālākūṭa, devenu assez farouche pour embraser les trois mondes, s’avança pour anéantir les habitants du ciel. Montant vers le haut, il envahit toutes les directions et remplit toute l’étendue du firmament, comme s’il était sorti pour engloutir tous les êtres.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) narrating (deduced)
Tirtha: Kālākūṭa/halāhala episode (mythic)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience
Scene: A vast sky darkened by a rising, swirling poison cloud; devas in panic; the poison stretches across horizons as if to swallow beings; the world’s colors drain toward ash and indigo.
FAQs
Unchecked poison—born of imbalance—spreads to engulf all; only timely turning to divine protection and dharmic restraint averts ruin.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse intensifies the crisis that Kedārakhaṇḍa resolves through Śiva’s supremacy.
No ritual is stated here; it describes the peril posed by Kālākūṭa.