Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 78
दिव्यमष्टविधं चात्र सद्यः प्रत्ययकारकम् । पापानां चोपभुक्तं हि यथा पार्थ हलाहलम्
divyamaṣṭavidhaṃ cātra sadyaḥ pratyayakārakam | pāpānāṃ copabhuktaṃ hi yathā pārtha halāhalam
இங்கே ‘திவ்ய’ எனப்படும் எட்டு வகை சோதனைகள் உள்ளன; அவை உடனே உண்மையின் உறுதியை அளிக்கும். அவை பாவங்களையும் விழுங்கி அழிக்கும்—ஓ பார்த்தா, ஹலாஹல விஷம் அருந்தி நச்சு நீங்கியதுபோல்.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced); transition to Arjuna–Nārada dialogue begins next adhyāya
Tirtha: Bhaṭṭāditya-kṣetra (contextual ‘atra’)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pārtha (addressed)
Scene: A sacred precinct with an ordeal pavilion showing symbolic ‘eight divyas’ (e.g., fire, water, balance/scale, poison, etc.) arranged as ritual stations; above, a vignette of Śiva consuming halāhala, linking the site’s sin-consuming power to cosmic purification.
FAQs
Dharma seeks clarity and truth; rightly used dharmic ‘tests’ are portrayed as purifying and decisive, consuming sin like neutralizing poison.
No specific tīrtha is named in the verse; it introduces a doctrine of eight ordeals said to be present/operative “here.”
It references the aṣṭavidha divya (eight ordeals) as immediate proof-producing methods, to be explained further in the next chapter.