Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 35
यावत्पश्यति सा साध्वी तावन्नागबिलो महान् । पूरितो नागरेणैव मार्गः पातालसंभवः
yāvatpaśyati sā sādhvī tāvannāgabilo mahān | pūrito nāgareṇaiva mārgaḥ pātālasaṃbhavaḥ
ครั้นนางผู้มีศีลได้ทอดพระเนตร พลันปรากฏถ้ำพญานาคอันใหญ่ยิ่ง ทางซึ่งกล่าวว่ากำเนิดจากปาตาละนั้น ถูกพญานาคเองแผ่กายปกคลุมจนเต็ม
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration within Nāgarakhaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Nāga-bila near Hāṭakeśvara
Type: cave
Scene: At the moment the sādhvī gazes, the earth parts to reveal a colossal serpent-cavern; a living Nāga fills the passage like a bridge, scales gleaming, leading downward toward Pātāla’s darkness.
FAQs
Sacred places are portrayed as threshold-zones where the visible and invisible worlds meet, revealing divine omens to the devoted.
The verse describes the extraordinary approach-landscape associated with reaching Hāṭakeśvara, marked by a Nāga-cavern and a Pātāla-linked path.
No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse provides mythic-geographical description of the pilgrim’s route and its supernatural markers.