Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 25
स्वर्गे वा भूतले वापि न केनापि प्रधृष्यते । तत्रास्ति विवरद्वारे तिलकोनाम पादपः
svarge vā bhūtale vāpi na kenāpi pradhṛṣyate | tatrāsti vivaradvāre tilakonāma pādapaḥ
സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിലായാലും ഭൂതലത്തിലായാലും അതിനെ ആരും ലംഘിക്കുകയില്ല. അവിടെ ആ പിളർപ്പുപോലെയുള്ള വഴിയുടെ വാതിലിൽ ‘തിലക’ എന്ന വൃക്ഷം നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു.
Pulastya (implied narrative voice before the explicit 'Pulastya uvāca' at v.34)
Tirtha: Vivara-dvāra with Tilaka-vṛkṣa (Arbuda)
Type: cave
Listener: null
Scene: A narrow rocky cleft opens like a doorway; at its mouth stands the Tilaka tree, radiant and unassailable, as if guarded by unseen forces.
FAQs
Sacred places and their divine markers (like holy trees) are portrayed as inviolable, emphasizing reverence for tīrthas and their guardians.
The passage belongs to the Rūpatīrtha-māhātmya within Arbuda Khaṇḍa (Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa), describing a protected sacred zone near a cave-like entrance.
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it introduces the sanctified location and its sacred tree.