Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 26
स्कंद उवाच । पाद्मेकल्पे पुरावृत्ते मनोः स्वायंभुवेंतरे । अनावृष्टिरभूद्विप्र सर्वभूतप्रकंपिनी
skaṃda uvāca | pādmekalpe purāvṛtte manoḥ svāyaṃbhuveṃtare | anāvṛṣṭirabhūdvipra sarvabhūtaprakaṃpinī
ஸ்கந்தர் கூறினார்—ஓ விப்ரரே, பழங்காலத்தில் பத்மகல்பத்தில், ஸ்வாயம்புவ மன்வந்தரத்தில், எல்லா உயிர்களையும் நடுங்கச் செய்யும் மழையின்மை ஏற்பட்டது।
Skanda
Listener: Agastya (addressed as vipra)
Scene: Skanda narrates with didactic calm; behind him, a symbolic tableau of parched earth and distressed beings, with celestial time-wheels (kalpa/manvantara) hinted as mandala motifs.
FAQs
Cosmic cycles include crises like drought; such upheavals become occasions for dharma to be sought and sacred refuges to be revealed.
The chapter’s arc culminates in Avimukta/Kāśī as a spiritual refuge, though this verse establishes the time-setting.
No specific rite is prescribed here; it introduces the historical-cosmic setting.