Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 29
शिवदीक्षाप्रमाणेन प्रसादं कुरु मे प्रभो । शुश्रूषां येन ते नित्यं प्रकरोमि समाहितः
śivadīkṣāpramāṇena prasādaṃ kuru me prabho | śuśrūṣāṃ yena te nityaṃ prakaromi samāhitaḥ
ഹേ പ്രഭോ! ശിവദീക്ഷയുടെ വിധിപ്രമാണപ്രകാരം എനിക്കു പ്രസാദം അരുളേണമേ; അതിനാൽ ഞാൻ സമാഹിതചിത്തനായി നിത്യം നിന്റെ ശുശ്രൂഷ ചെയ്യുമാറാകട്ടെ.
Duḥśīla (petitioning the ascetic/teacher for Śivadīkṣā and permission to serve)
Tirtha: Trisaṅgama
Type: sangam
Scene: A supplicant devotee with folded hands requests Śiva-initiation ‘according to rule’, while a serene ascetic-guru sits near a riverside hermitage at a tīrtha; the atmosphere is quiet, disciplined, and devotional.
FAQs
Initiation is sought not for status but for disciplined, continual service; grace and right procedure (pramāṇa) go together.
Within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya setting, the emphasis here is on dīkṣā and sevā rather than a named tīrtha.
Śivadīkṣā is requested explicitly, to be given according to its proper authorized method, implying formal initiation with vows and discipline.