Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 85
वृत्तैः सपुलकैः स्निग्धैः स्त्रीणामिव पयोधरैः । दुष्प्राप्यैरल्पपुण्यानां क्वचिदाभाति बिल्वकैः
vṛttaiḥ sapulakaiḥ snigdhaiḥ strīṇāmiva payodharaiḥ | duṣprāpyairalpapuṇyānāṃ kvacidābhāti bilvakaiḥ
ಕೆಲವೆಡೆ ಇದು ಬಿಲ್ವವೃಕ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಹೊಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ—ವೃತ್ತ, ಸ್ನಿಗ್ಧ, ಹೊಸ ಮೊಗ್ಗುಗಳಿಂದ ಪುಲಕಿತ, ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರ ಪಯೋಧರಗಳಂತೆ; ಆದರೆ ಅಲ್ಪಪುಣ್ಯರಿಗೆ ಅವು ದುರ್ಲಭ।
Narrator (within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya context)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Somnātha sphere)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A grove of glossy, round bilva clusters with fresh bristling shoots; the poet’s simile overlays a sensual human form, yet the devotional subtext marks bilva as a rare Śiva-offering granted only to the meritorious.
FAQs
Merit (puṇya) conditions access to sacred abundance; the holy grove’s gifts are portrayed as rare for the spiritually unprepared.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra’s bilva-filled areas are praised as especially auspicious and spiritually ‘rare’.
No explicit rite is stated, though bilva is traditionally associated with Śiva-upacāra (offering), implied by the sacred setting.