Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 18
ब्राह्मणा ऊचुः । यदि तुष्टोऽसि नो देव स्थानेऽस्मिन्निरतो भव । असंख्यातानि यस्माच्च कपालानि सुरेश्वर
brāhmaṇā ūcuḥ | yadi tuṣṭo'si no deva sthāne'sminnirato bhava | asaṃkhyātāni yasmācca kapālāni sureśvara
ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು ಹೇಳಿದರು—“ಹೇ ದೇವಾ! ನೀನು ನಮ್ಮ ಮೇಲೆ ತೃಪ್ತನಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ, ಈ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲೇ ನಿರತನಾಗಿ ಇರು. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ, ಹೇ ಸುರೇಶ್ವರ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅಸಂಖ್ಯಾತ ಕಪಾಲಗಳಿವೆ.”
Brāhmaṇas/Ṛṣis
Tirtha: Kapāleśvara (emergent name within Prabhāsa-kṣetra)
Type: temple
Listener: Ṛṣi-assembly
Scene: Brāhmaṇas address Śiva with folded hands, gesturing toward the ground where countless skulls are seen or symbolically indicated; the atmosphere is solemn, liminal, and sacred rather than macabre.
FAQs
Devotees seek the deity’s abiding presence at a sacred site, establishing an enduring relationship between place, worship, and grace.
A Śiva-sthāna within Prabhāsakṣetra associated with “kapālas,” later known as Kapāleśvara.
A request for the deity to remain at the site; no specific ritual is detailed in this verse.