Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 33
मया शिरो हुतं चाग्नौ तदानीमेव शंकर । अवशिष्टं शिरःशंभो पशोश्च विकृताननम्
mayā śiro hutaṃ cāgnau tadānīmeva śaṃkara | avaśiṣṭaṃ śiraḥśaṃbho paśośca vikṛtānanam
വീരഭദ്രൻ പറഞ്ഞു—“ഹേ ശങ്കരാ, അന്നേ ഞാൻ ആ ശിരസ് അഗ്നിയിൽ ഹോമമായി അർപ്പിച്ചു. ഹേ ശംഭോ, ശേഷിക്കുന്നത് യജ്ഞപശുവിന്റെ വികൃതമുഖമുള്ള ശിരസ്സാണ്.”
Vīrabhadra
Tirtha: Kedāra-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Vīrabhadra reports that he cast Dakṣa’s head into the sacrificial fire; only the beast’s head remains—its face grotesquely altered—foreshadowing the uncanny restoration.
FAQs
Misused ritual ends in loss; yet the divine can reconfigure outcomes to restore order and teach humility.
No specific site is praised in this verse; it belongs to the Kedārakhaṇḍa’s Śaiva narrative framework.
The verse references offering into Agni (homa) and a sacrificial animal (paśu), but does not prescribe a ritual for the listener.