Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17
यज्ञैरिष्टो हि देवेन्द्रो यथा स्वर्गप्रदः स्मृतः । शुद्धिकर्तृ यथा तोयं मृत्तिकाभस्मसंयुतम् । दहनात्मा यथा वह्निर्विघ्नहर्त्ता गणेश्वरः
yajñairiṣṭo hi devendro yathā svargapradaḥ smṛtaḥ | śuddhikartṛ yathā toyaṃ mṛttikābhasmasaṃyutam | dahanātmā yathā vahnirvighnaharttā gaṇeśvaraḥ
“ดังพระอินทร์ผู้เป็นเทวราช เมื่อบูชาด้วยยัญญะ ย่อมเป็นที่ระลึกว่าเป็นผู้ประทานสวรรค์; ดังน้ำเมื่อประกอบด้วยดินและเถ้าศักดิ์สิทธิ์ย่อมชำระให้บริสุทธิ์; ดังไฟมีสภาวะเผาผลาญ; และดังพระคเณศวรเป็นผู้ขจัดอุปสรรค…”
Narrator (contextual, continuing Viṣṇu’s reflection)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A didactic tableau: Indra receiving oblations at a yajña; a ritual vessel of water with clay and ash beside it; a bright sacrificial fire; Gaṇeśa standing as guardian removing obstacles—arranged as symbolic vignettes around the speaker’s thought.
FAQs
The cosmos is ordered by dharma: each deity and element has a recognized function—heaven through yajña, purification through sacred substances, and obstacle-removal through Gaṇeśa.
The broader passage belongs to the glorification of Prabhāsa Kṣetra, though this verse uses universal analogies rather than naming a sub-tīrtha.
Yajña-worship of Indra is referenced; purification through water with clay and ash is also described as a means of śuddhi.