Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 27
भगवन्कलिकालेऽस्मिन्सर्वपापसमन्विते । वर्षपापविशुद्ध्यर्थं दिनमेकं क्षितौ व्रज । येन त्वत्पूजया पूता मर्त्याः शुद्धिमवाप्नुयुः
bhagavankalikāle'sminsarvapāpasamanvite | varṣapāpaviśuddhyarthaṃ dinamekaṃ kṣitau vraja | yena tvatpūjayā pūtā martyāḥ śuddhimavāpnuyuḥ
ข้าแต่พระผู้เป็นเจ้า ในกาลียุคอันเต็มไปด้วยบาปทั้งปวง โปรดเสด็จลงสู่พื้นพิภพเพียงหนึ่งวัน เพื่อชำระบาปตลอดปี ให้มนุษย์ผู้บูชาพระองค์ได้ความบริสุทธิ์และพ้นมลทิน
The Devas (collectively) addressing Śiva (deduced from surrounding ‘suraiḥ sarvaiḥ’ context)
Tirtha: Māgha-kṛṣṇa-caturdaśī (Śivarātri night)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaṅkara (Śiva)
Scene: Devas (or a divine supplicant) petition Śaṅkara to descend in Kali-yuga for one day so that human worship may cleanse a year’s sins; the earth below is shown burdened by darkness, while Śiva’s compassion radiates downward.
FAQs
In Kali Yuga, divine grace is made accessible through a concentrated sacred observance that purifies even heavy moral burden.
The emphasis is on Śiva’s descent ‘to the earth’ and the sacred time; no single tīrtha is named in this verse.
Śiva-pūjā on the divinely appointed occasion meant for cleansing the sins of a year.