Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 54
तच्छवस्य बहिर्ग्रामा त्क्षिप्तस्य प्रेतकर्मणः । चचार सारमेयोंऽगे भस्मपादो यदृच्छया
tacchavasya bahirgrāmā tkṣiptasya pretakarmaṇaḥ | cacāra sārameyoṃ'ge bhasmapādo yadṛcchayā
तच्छवस्य बहिर्ग्रामात्क्षिप्तस्य प्रेतकर्मणः। चचार सारमेयोऽङ्गे भस्मपादो यदृच्छया॥
Vāmadeva
Type: śmaśāna/liminal-space (implied)
Scene: A discarded corpse beyond the village boundary; a wandering dog steps across it, paws dusted with ash, leaving bhasma-marks on the body—an eerie yet providential moment.
FAQs
Even unintended contact with a sanctifying substance associated with Śiva (bhasma) is depicted as carrying transformative merit.
No specific location is named; the focus is on the sanctity of bhasma rather than a named pilgrimage site.
The verse notes the absence of preta-karma (funerary rites), highlighting the corpse’s abandonment; no positive rite is prescribed here.