Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
नवकोटिमुखां दृष्ट्वा साट्टहासो जनोऽभवत् । वैदिकी श्रुतिरित्युक्ता शिव त्वं स्थिरतां व्रज
navakoṭimukhāṃ dṛṣṭvā sāṭṭahāso jano'bhavat | vaidikī śrutirityuktā śiva tvaṃ sthiratāṃ vraja
La voyant comme pourvue de «neuf crores de visages», le peuple éclata d’un grand rire. Alors fut proclamée la révélation védique : «Ô Śiva, avance vers la stabilité ; sois ferme et recueilli.»
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic voice; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in a Māhātmya narration)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Crowd beholds a startling vision described as ‘nine crores of faces’; laughter erupts; then a solemn, luminous ‘śruti’ proclamation instructs Śiva toward steadfast composure.
FAQs
Even amid astonishment and mockery, dharma is upheld when one abides in steadiness (sthiratā) and follows scriptural guidance.
This verse occurs within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya; the immediate snippet does not name the precise tīrtha, but it supports the broader place-glorification narrative of the chapter.
No explicit rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated here; the instruction is ethical-spiritual: cultivate steadfastness.