Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 28
नन्द्युवाच । यज्ञबाह्यो हि मे स्वामी महेशोऽयं कृतः कथम् । यस्य स्मरणमात्रेण यज्ञाश्च सफला ह्यमी
nandyuvāca | yajñabāhyo hi me svāmī maheśo'yaṃ kṛtaḥ katham | yasya smaraṇamātreṇa yajñāśca saphalā hyamī
Nandī berkata: “Bagaimanakah Tuhanku, Maheśa ini, dijadikan ‘di luar yajña’? Sedangkan dengan mengingati-Nya sahaja, yajña-yajña ini menjadi berhasil!”
Nandī
Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedāranātha)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dakṣa (and the sacrificial assembly)
Scene: Nandī, the bull-bannered attendant of Śiva, speaks with astonished anger in a sacrificial arena, questioning how Maheśa could be treated as ‘outside the sacrifice’ when His remembrance perfects all yajñas.
FAQs
The efficacy of ritual depends on divine remembrance; devotion to Śiva is presented as the inner power that fulfills outward sacrifice.
Not explicit in the verse; it occurs within Kedārakhaṇḍa, aligning the narrative with Kedāra’s Śaiva sanctity.
Implicitly, smaraṇa (remembrance) of Śiva is upheld as what makes yajñas successful.