Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 26
स्कंद उवाच । इमं मनोरथं तस्याः पौलोम्याः पुरसूदनः । समाकर्ण्य क्षणं स्मित्वा प्राहेशो विस्मयान्वितः
skaṃda uvāca | imaṃ manorathaṃ tasyāḥ paulomyāḥ purasūdanaḥ | samākarṇya kṣaṇaṃ smitvā prāheśo vismayānvitaḥ
พระสกันทะกล่าวว่า: เมื่อได้ยินความปรารถนานี้ของนางเปาโลมี ผู้ทำลายเมืองอสูร (พระศิวะ) ทรงยิ้มอยู่ครู่หนึ่ง และด้วยความประหลาดใจ จึงตรัสขึ้น
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (narrative setting)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Primary listener not named in the provided excerpt (likely a sage/assembly within Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s frame)
Scene: Skanda narrates: Śiva (Purāsūdana—destroyer of the triple city) hears Paulomī’s wish, smiles briefly, and speaks with wonder.
FAQs
Divine grace engages human longing, but redirects it through vowed discipline and sacred instruction.
The narration belongs to Kāśī-khaṇḍa, presenting Kāśī as the privileged stage for Śiva-centered teachings.
No direct prescription here; it is the narrative transition into Śiva’s vrata-instruction.