Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 2
दुस्तरे दुरितांभोधौ मज्जतां विषयात्मनाम् । शिवपूजां विना कश्चित्प्लवो नास्ति निरूपितः
dustare duritāṃbhodhau majjatāṃ viṣayātmanām | śivapūjāṃ vinā kaścitplavo nāsti nirūpitaḥ
ദുരിതത്തിന്റെ ദുഷ്കരസമുദ്രത്തിൽ വിഷയാസക്തർ മുങ്ങുന്നു; ശിവപൂജയെ ഒഴികെ മറ്റൊരു പ്ലവം (ഉദ്ധാരമാർഗം) നിർണ്ണയിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടില്ല.
Sūta (continuing narration)
Listener: Sages at Naimiṣāraṇya (implied)
Scene: Allegorical tableau: a vast dark ocean labeled ‘durita’; people clutching at waves of ‘viṣaya’; a luminous raft shaped like a Śiva-liṅga or a boat bearing the liṅga and bilva leaves; Śiva’s compassionate gaze from the horizon as a guiding light.
FAQs
Sense-attachment sinks the soul in pāpa; Śiva-pūjā is upheld as the decisive means of rescue and inner crossing.
No site is specified; the focus is on the universal salvific power of Śiva worship.
Śiva-pūjā (worship of Śiva) is prescribed as the essential practice.