Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 4
मातुः स्तन्यं पुनर्नैव स पिबेन्मुक्तिभाग्भवेत् । ततो रुद्रो नीलकंठं नारदाय महात्मने
mātuḥ stanyaṃ punarnaiva sa pibenmuktibhāgbhavet | tato rudro nīlakaṃṭhaṃ nāradāya mahātmane
तो पुन्हा कधीही मातृस्तन्य पित नाही; तो मुक्तिभागी होतो. मग रुद्रांनी महात्मा नारदांना नीलकंठाचे वर्णन सांगितले.
Narratorial voice (reporting a tradition: Rudra instructing Nārada)
Tirtha: Mahīnagaraka (kshetra complex)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Nārada; later addressed to Pārtha in the same passage-context
Scene: Rudra, serene and ash-smeared, addresses the sage Nārada, who stands with vīṇā and folded hands; the background hints at a sacred townscape and a tīrtha precinct.
FAQs
The tīrtha’s grace is described as so transformative that it leads toward liberation, ending the cycle of rebirth symbolized by ‘not drinking mother’s milk again’.
Nīlakaṇṭha (as a sacred Śaiva locus within the Mahīnagaraka-kṣetra tradition).
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it highlights the mokṣa-fruit and the transmission of the māhātmya from Rudra to Nārada.