Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 23
मूर्तिः क्वापि महेश्वरस्य महती यज्ञस्य मूलोदया तुम्बी तुंगफलावती च शतशो ब्रह्माण्डकोटिस्तथा । यन्मानं न पितामहो न च हरिर्ब्रह्माण्डमध्यस्थितो जानात्यन्यसुरेषु का च गणना सा संततं वोऽवतात्
mūrtiḥ kvāpi maheśvarasya mahatī yajñasya mūlodayā tumbī tuṃgaphalāvatī ca śataśo brahmāṇḍakoṭistathā | yanmānaṃ na pitāmaho na ca harirbrahmāṇḍamadhyasthito jānātyanyasureṣu kā ca gaṇanā sā saṃtataṃ vo'vatāt
Quelque part se dresse une vaste manifestation de Maheśvara—source primordiale d’où naît le yajña—pareille à une liane de gourde s’élevant, lourde de fruits sublimes, et pareille à des centaines de crores d’univers. Sa mesure n’est connue ni de Pitāmaha (Brahmā), ni de Hari (Viṣṇu) demeurant au cœur du cosmos; que pourraient donc compter les autres dieux? Que cette Forme suprême vous protège à jamais.
Kubera (hymn/stotra) addressing Śiva (deduced from preceding verse: 'stotreṇānena')
Tirtha: Somnātha in Prabhāsa (stotra locus)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Īśāna/Maheśvara (addressed deity); also the gathered devotees/pilgrims implied by ‘vo’ (you all)
Scene: A visionary cosmic form of Maheśvara: an immense, luminous axis/source of sacrifice, compared to a towering gourd-vine heavy with fruits and to countless universes; Brahmā and Viṣṇu appear dwarfed, unable to gauge its measure; the form radiates protective grace.
FAQs
Śiva’s reality is immeasurable even to the highest gods; humility and surrender before the Infinite is the heart of stotra-bhakti.
Somnātha in Prabhāsa-kṣetra is the immediate setting of this hymn, presenting Śiva there as cosmic and protective.
Recitation of a protective Śiva-stotra (hymn) as part of devotion after worship.