Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 155
धेनुके रुद्ररूपासि रुद्रेण परिनिर्मिता । अस्मिन्नगाधे संसारे पतन्तं मां समुद्धर
dhenuke rudrarūpāsi rudreṇa parinirmitā | asminnagādhe saṃsāre patantaṃ māṃ samuddhara
Wahai dhenu (sapi suci), engkau berwujud Rudra, diciptakan oleh Rudra. Dalam samudra samsara yang tak terduga ini, saat aku jatuh—angkatlah aku ke seberang.
King (as donor, praying during go-dāna)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha milieu (implicit)
Type: kshetra
Listener: nareśvara (king) addressed in narration (as per translation vocative)
Scene: A supplicant addresses an adorned cow as Rudra’s embodiment, hands folded, with the riverine sacred landscape implied; the saṃsāra-ocean metaphor can be visualized as waves behind, with Śiva’s grace symbolically present.
FAQs
Charity offered with sacred vision—seeing the cow as Rudra’s form—becomes a prayer for liberation from saṃsāra.
The Revā Khaṇḍa setting frames the act of go-dāna as especially meritorious within the Narmadā sacred landscape.
Reciting a dedicatory prayer to the cow during go-dāna, invoking Rudra and seeking deliverance.