Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 80
एवं ब्रह्ममयं विभाति सकलं विश्वं चरं स्थावरं विज्ञानाख्यमिदं पदं स भगवान्विष्णुः स्वयं व्यापकः । ज्ञात्वा तं शिरसि स्थितं बहुवरं योगेश्वराणां परं प्राणी मुंचति सर्पवज्जगतिजां निर्मोकमायाकृतिम्
evaṃ brahmamayaṃ vibhāti sakalaṃ viśvaṃ caraṃ sthāvaraṃ vijñānākhyamidaṃ padaṃ sa bhagavānviṣṇuḥ svayaṃ vyāpakaḥ | jñātvā taṃ śirasi sthitaṃ bahuvaraṃ yogeśvarāṇāṃ paraṃ prāṇī muṃcati sarpavajjagatijāṃ nirmokamāyākṛtim
Ainsi, l’univers tout entier—mobile et immobile—resplendit comme Brahman. Cet état, nommé « vijñāna » (connaissance réalisée), est Bhagavān Viṣṇu Lui-même, l’Omnipénétrant. Le connaissant comme le Suprême, établi au sommet de la tête et au-delà même des seigneurs du yoga, l’être vivant rejette l’enveloppe née du monde, façonnée par māyā, tel le serpent qui mue sa peau.
Brahmā (in Brahma–Nārada dialogue; inferred from section context)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Nārada
Scene: Cosmic vision: the universe (mobile/immobile) suffused with Brahman-light; Viṣṇu as all-pervading presence. A yogin’s subtle body with a luminous lotus at the crown; beside him a serpent shedding its skin as metaphor for casting off māyā.
FAQs
Realizing the all-pervading Lord as Brahman (vijñāna) enables one to shed māyā and attain liberation.
The verse occurs within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya of the Nāgara-khaṇḍa, praising the sanctifying power of that sacred field in the broader Cāturmāsya context.
No direct ritual is prescribed here; it emphasizes inner realization (jñāna/vijñāna) as the liberating means.