Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 64
यम उवाच । शब्दाच्छब्दः प्रवर्त्तेत निःशब्दं ज्ञानमेव च । अनित्यत्वं हि शब्दस्य कथं प्रोक्तं त्वया प्रभो
yama uvāca | śabdācchabdaḥ pravartteta niḥśabdaṃ jñānameva ca | anityatvaṃ hi śabdasya kathaṃ proktaṃ tvayā prabho
यम म्हणाला— शब्दातून शब्दच पुढे येतो; परंतु ज्ञान हे निःशब्द आहे. शब्द अनित्य असताना, हे प्रभो, तुम्ही हे वाणीने कसे सांगितले?
Yama
Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Scene: Yama, dignified and contemplative, questions Śambhu in a Himalayan setting; speech scrolls dissolve into silence, represented by a luminous void or still lake.
FAQs
Words can point toward truth, but ultimate knowledge is beyond words; Yama highlights the paradox of teaching the wordless through speech.
The discourse belongs to Kedāra Khaṇḍa; the verse itself is a philosophical question rather than a direct tīrtha-praise.
None; it concerns the epistemology of spiritual instruction (śabda versus direct knowledge).