Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 10
सूत उवाच । यदा च प्रलयो भावि तदा त्मानं करोत्यसौ । पश्चपिंडीमयं विप्राः कुरुते रूपमुत्तमम्
sūta uvāca | yadā ca pralayo bhāvi tadā tmānaṃ karotyasau | paścapiṃḍīmayaṃ viprāḥ kurute rūpamuttamam
സൂതൻ പറഞ്ഞു—പ്രളയകാലം വരുമ്പോൾ, ഹേ ബ്രാഹ്മണന്മാരേ, ആ ദേവി സ്വയം അഞ്ചുപിണ്ഡമയമായ അത്യുത്തമ രൂപം ധരിക്കുന്നു।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa)
Tirtha: Pañcapiṇḍikā
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brāhmaṇas (viprāḥ)
Scene: Sūta narrates as the Devī, at the approach of pralaya, assumes a radiant ‘five-piṇḍa’ embodied form—five luminous sacred mounds or orbs arranged as a divine body, with sages witnessing in awe.
FAQs
The Goddess is beyond fixed form; she manifests in diverse icons to protect and guide beings across cosmic cycles.
The tīrtha of Gaurī Pañcapiṇḍikā, whose distinctive form is grounded in a cosmic (pralaya) legend.
None directly; it provides the theological origin for why the deity is worshiped in a five-piṇḍa form.