Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 21
अमृतेनोदरस्थेन म्रियन्ते सर्वदेवताः । कण्ठस्थितविषेणापि यो जीवति स पातु वः
amṛtenodarasthena mriyante sarvadevatāḥ | kaṇṭhasthitaviṣeṇāpi yo jīvati sa pātu vaḥ
यदि अमृत भी उदर में ही पड़ा रहे तो समस्त देवता मर जाएँ; पर जो कंठ में स्थित विष के होते हुए भी जीवित रहता है—वही (नीलकंठ शिव) तुम्हारी रक्षा करे।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (contextual attribution within Purāṇic narration)
Listener: Śaunaka and other sages
Scene: A symbolic hymn: on one side, devas weakened despite ‘nectar in the belly’ (unassimilated immortality); on the other, Śiva as Nīlakaṇṭha stands serene with blue throat, holding the world’s poison, granting protection to the assembly.
FAQs
True divinity is shown by self-sacrificing protection—bearing poison for the world’s welfare, as Śiva is famed to do.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a protective benediction within the Dvārakā Māhātmya narrative frame.
A maṅgala-prārthanā (protective invocation) is implied—seeking protection from the one symbolically identified with poison-in-the-throat.