Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 27
कपालमालाभरणश्चिताभस्म बिभर्ति यः । अपवित्रतया शंभुर्नाहूतस्तु तथाविधः
kapālamālābharaṇaścitābhasma bibharti yaḥ | apavitratayā śaṃbhurnāhūtastu tathāvidhaḥ
Śambhu, yang memakai kalung tengkorak dan menyandang abu dari tanah pembakaran mayat—dianggap oleh mereka sebagai “tidak suci”—maka tidak dijemput dalam rupa yang demikian itu.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic voice within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Śambhu stands in fierce ascetic splendor—skull-garlanded, smeared with cremation ash—while a formal assembly hesitates and excludes him, revealing the tension between social purity codes and divine transcendence.
FAQs
External notions of purity can misjudge the Supreme; Śiva’s cremation-ground emblems signify transcendence beyond social and ritual categories.
The verse occurs within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya’s broader glorification, using theological contrast to heighten reverence for Śiva and sacred places.
No prescription; it narrates an exclusion based on perceived impurity, setting up a dharmic/theological point.