Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3
पातालं सुतलं नाम तस्यैव नितलं ह्यधः । गभस्तिगं च तस्याधो ह्यन्धतामिस्रमेव च
pātālaṃ sutalaṃ nāma tasyaiva nitalaṃ hyadhaḥ | gabhastigaṃ ca tasyādho hyandhatāmisrameva ca
ปาตาละเรียกว่า “สุทละ”; เบื้องล่างนั้นแท้จริงมี “นิตละ” อยู่ ใต้ลงไปคือ “คภัสติกะ” และลึกลงไปยิ่งกว่านั้นคือ “อันธะ-ตามิศระ”
Mārkaṇḍeya
Listener: a royal interlocutor (addressed as rājendra in the surrounding passage)
Scene: A descending cosmic cross-section: successive luminous and shadowed strata labeled Sutala, Nitala, Gabhastiga, and the pitch-dark Andha-tāmisra; serpents, jeweled caverns, and dim fires suggest depth and dread.
FAQs
It frames the Purāṇic cosmos as multi-layered, preparing the narrative for divine presence even in the deepest realms.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it provides cosmological background within the Kapileśvara narrative context.
None; this is descriptive cosmography.