Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 163
कपालपात्रे निर्दुग्धा त्वंतर्द्धानं तु राक्षसैः । तेन क्षीरेण रक्षांसि वर्त्तयन्तीह सर्वशः
kapālapātre nirdugdhā tvaṃtarddhānaṃ tu rākṣasaiḥ | tena kṣīreṇa rakṣāṃsi varttayantīha sarvaśaḥ
Susu diperah ke dalam mangkuk tengkorak; para Rākṣasa menarik keluar kuasa “lenyap/ghaib” itu. Dengan “susu” tersebut, para Rākṣasa menyara diri di sini dalam segala cara.
Sūta (deduced from section context)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Frame audience
Scene: Dark, symbolic scene: rākṣasas milk the Earth-cow into a kapāla (skull-bowl); a pale, smoky essence labeled ‘antar-dhāna’ rises; rākṣasas drink/absorb it to sustain themselves; background hints of cremation-ground iconography while the sacred horizon of Prabhāsa’s coast remains distant.
FAQs
The verse contrasts dharmic and adharmic uses of power: occult attainments like antardhāna can become tools of predation when rooted in tamas.
The setting is Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya, a pilgrimage-focused glorification within the Skanda Purāṇa.
No prescriptive rite is given; the skull-bowl appears as narrative symbolism rather than instruction.