Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32
अग्निं पिबामो जलवच्चूर्णीकुर्मोखिलान्गिरीन् । सप्तापि चार्णवांस्तूर्णं करवाम मरुस्थलीम्
agniṃ pibāmo jalavaccūrṇīkurmokhilāngirīn | saptāpi cārṇavāṃstūrṇaṃ karavāma marusthalīm
“आम्ही पाण्यासारखी अग्नीही पिऊ शकतो; सर्व पर्वत चूर्ण करू शकतो; आणि सातही समुद्र त्वरित मरुभूमी करू शकतो।”
Gaṇas/Pramathas (quoted speech within Skanda’s narration)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Śaṃbhu-dhāma)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Purāṇic audience (not explicit in verse)
Scene: Pramathas proclaim impossible feats: drinking fire, pulverizing mountains, drying seven oceans; the scene can show symbolic vignettes around them—one gaṇa cupping flames like water, another crushing a mountain, oceans receding into cracked earth—while Śiva’s abode anchors the center.
FAQs
Raw power without reverence becomes pride; the Purāṇic narrative uses hyperbole to expose delusion before the Supreme.
The surrounding Kāśīkhaṇḍa context glorifies Kāśī, though this verse itself focuses on the gaṇas’ boasts.
None.