Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 120
तस्मात्सर्वप्रदो मंत्रः सोऽयं पञ्चाक्षरः स्मृतः । स्त्रीभिः शूद्रैश्च संकीर्णैर्धार्यते मुक्तिकांक्षिभिः
tasmātsarvaprado maṃtraḥ so'yaṃ pañcākṣaraḥ smṛtaḥ | strībhiḥ śūdraiśca saṃkīrṇairdhāryate muktikāṃkṣibhiḥ
ਇਸ ਲਈ ਸਭ ਵਰ ਦਾਤਾ ਇਹ ਮੰਤ੍ਰ ‘ਪੰਚਾਕਸ਼ਰ’ ਨਾਮ ਨਾਲ ਪ੍ਰਸਿੱਧ ਹੈ। ਮੁਕਤੀ ਦੀ ਆਸ ਰੱਖਣ ਵਾਲੀਆਂ ਇਸਤ੍ਰੀਆਂ, ਸ਼ੂਦ੍ਰ ਅਤੇ ਮਿਲੇ-ਝੁਲੇ ਵਰਗਾਂ ਦੇ ਲੋਕ ਵੀ ਇਸ ਨੂੰ ਧਾਰਨ ਕਰਕੇ ਜਪਣ।
Not explicit in snippet (contextual narrator voice within Brahmottarakhaṇḍa)
Scene: A diverse assembly—women, Śūdras, and mixed communities—sit in a simple shrine space before a Śiva-liṅga, counting rudrākṣa beads, the pañcākṣara syllables appearing as luminous letters around them.
FAQs
Liberation-oriented devotion is open to all; the five-syllabled Śiva-mantra is praised as universally beneficent.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the focus is on the universal efficacy of the pañcākṣara mantra.
The prescription is to ‘hold/recite’ (dhāryate) the pañcākṣara mantra as a means toward mukti.