Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 120
तस्मात्सर्वप्रदो मंत्रः सोऽयं पञ्चाक्षरः स्मृतः । स्त्रीभिः शूद्रैश्च संकीर्णैर्धार्यते मुक्तिकांक्षिभिः
tasmātsarvaprado maṃtraḥ so'yaṃ pañcākṣaraḥ smṛtaḥ | strībhiḥ śūdraiśca saṃkīrṇairdhāryate muktikāṃkṣibhiḥ
म्हणून हा सर्वफलप्रद मंत्र ‘पंचाक्षर’ म्हणून प्रसिद्ध आहे। स्त्रिया, शूद्र व संकीर्णवर्णीयही—मोक्षाची इच्छा करणाऱ्यांनी—हा मंत्र धारण करून जपावा।
Not explicit in snippet (contextual narrator voice within Brahmottarakhaṇḍa)
Scene: A diverse assembly—women, Śūdras, and mixed communities—sit in a simple shrine space before a Śiva-liṅga, counting rudrākṣa beads, the pañcākṣara syllables appearing as luminous letters around them.
FAQs
Liberation-oriented devotion is open to all; the five-syllabled Śiva-mantra is praised as universally beneficent.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the focus is on the universal efficacy of the pañcākṣara mantra.
The prescription is to ‘hold/recite’ (dhāryate) the pañcākṣara mantra as a means toward mukti.