Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 33
अथ दृष्ट्वा महादेवः सतीं प्राणैर्विना स्थिताम् । अवमानात्तथाऽत्मानं त्यक्त्वा मत्वा कपालिनम्
atha dṛṣṭvā mahādevaḥ satīṃ prāṇairvinā sthitām | avamānāttathā'tmānaṃ tyaktvā matvā kapālinam
Alors Mahādeva, voyant Satī gisant sans souffle de vie, et prenant l’affront en son cœur, se tint pour Kāpālin, le porteur du crâne, et renonça à toute estime ordinaire de lui-même.
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience (ṛṣi/kingly interlocutors typical of Māhātmya frame)
Scene: Mahādeva beholds Satī lifeless; his face shifts from stunned grief to terrible resolve, adopting the kapālin aspect—matted locks, ash-smeared body, skull-emblem—while the world darkens in sympathy.
FAQs
Insult to the sacred leads to cosmic rupture; Śiva’s fierce vow-forms arise to restore dharma when devotion is violated.
The broader glorification is of Prabhāsa-kṣetra via its Māhātmya, which situates major Shaiva events within its sacred narrative.
None directly; the verse signals Śiva’s transition to a fierce vow-aspect (Kapālin) in response to adharma.