Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 42
ततस्तदस्थिशुद्ध्यर्थमुवाचेदं सुरेश्वरः । गौरीणां कर्कशा जिह्वा ता एतदुत्खिदंत्विति
tatastadasthiśuddhyarthamuvācedaṃ sureśvaraḥ | gaurīṇāṃ karkaśā jihvā tā etadutkhidaṃtviti
Puis, pour la purification de ces os, le Seigneur des dieux déclara : «Que les langues rugueuses des Gaurīs les raclent et les rendent purs.»
Sureśvara (Indra)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/śaunaka-ādi (typical audience frame)
Scene: Indra (or the lord of the devas) issues a solemn command for bone-purification; divine cow-mothers (Gaurīs) are invoked as purifying agents, their rough tongues imagined scraping clean the remaining impurities from bones in a consecrated space of Prabhāsa.
FAQs
Even when the goal is divine, purity (śuddhi) is essential; sacred materials must be prepared through dharmic means.
Prabhāsakṣetra, where the māhātmya frames purity, sacred remains, and divine mission as part of the kṣetra’s glory.
A purification procedure: cleansing the sage’s bones using the rough tongues of white cows (gaurīṇām jihvā), indicating a purity-focused preparation step.