Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 81
द्वादशाब्दं च तस्यायुरित्युक्त्वाथ विमृश्य च । पुनर्लेख्यगतं प्राह स वर्षायुतजीवितम्
dvādaśābdaṃ ca tasyāyurityuktvātha vimṛśya ca | punarlekhyagataṃ prāha sa varṣāyutajīvitam
“द्वादशाब्दं तस्यायुः” इत्युक्त्वा स पुनर्विमृश्य; लेख्यं पुनरवलोक्य प्राह—“स वर्षायुतजीवितः।”
Contextually: a divine adjudicator/record-reader (linked with Yama’s administration in the surrounding verses)
Listener: A king (nṛpa) and/or Śaiva assembly (contextual)
Scene: A sage/record-keeper re-checks a palm-leaf register of destiny; the written ‘twelve years’ is reconsidered and replaced with ‘ten thousand years,’ suggesting a cosmic correction under Śaiva influence.
FAQs
Rudra-centered merit can overturn fearful destinies; divine grace can transform even a short lifespan into long life.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; the emphasis is on Rudra-japa/adhyāya as a liberating power.
Implicitly, devotion to Rudra through japa/adhyāya-recitation is the cause behind the altered decree.