Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 25
प्रासहस्ते दण्डहस्ते भीमहस्ते भयानने । चामुण्डे ज्वलमानास्ये तीक्ष्णदंष्ट्रे महाबले । शवयानस्थिते देवि प्रेतसंघनिषेविते
prāsahaste daṇḍahaste bhīmahaste bhayānane | cāmuṇḍe jvalamānāsye tīkṣṇadaṃṣṭre mahābale | śavayānasthite devi pretasaṃghaniṣevite
Ô Déesse — tenant la lance en ta main, tenant le bâton en ta main ; aux mains redoutables et au visage terrifiant. Ô Cāmuṇḍā, au visage flamboyant, aux crocs acérés, à la force immense. Ô Devī qui demeures sur un lit de cadavres, honorée par des cohortes de preta (esprits).
Devas (collective hymn/praise within the narrative)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: The Devī appears as Cāmuṇḍā/Mahākālī: blazing face, sharp fangs, powerful limbs holding spear and staff; she stands or sits upon a bier of corpses, surrounded by preta-gaṇas, while devas praise from a respectful distance.
FAQs
The verse venerates the Goddess in her fierce, protective form—teaching that divine power also manifests as terrifying grace that destroys evil and safeguards dharma.
Prabhāsakṣetra (Prabhāsa)—the sacred region being praised in the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya of the Skanda Purana.
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it functions as a stotra-style invocation describing the deity’s form.