Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 50
तास्तु तैर्विबुधैः स्पृष्टाः सुपूताः समवस्थिताः । मुखमेकं परं तासां न स्पृष्टमशुचि स्मृतम्
tāstu tairvibudhaiḥ spṛṣṭāḥ supūtāḥ samavasthitāḥ | mukhamekaṃ paraṃ tāsāṃ na spṛṣṭamaśuci smṛtam
แต่เมื่อเหล่าเทวะได้สัมผัสบรรดาโคมารดาเหล่านั้น นางก็บริสุทธิ์ผุดผ่องและตั้งมั่นดังเดิม; ทว่าเพียงส่วนหนึ่ง—คือปาก—มิได้ถูกสัมผัส เพราะถือกันว่าเป็นมลทิน
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya; likely Sūta in the wider framing)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (frame implied)
Scene: After the gods’ touch, the cow-mothers stand purified and restored; yet the mouth remains untouched, marked as aśuci—an image of sanctity with a clearly drawn boundary.
FAQs
Purification is nuanced: Purāṇic tradition distinguishes between sacredness and specific ritual-impurity rules.
Prabhāsakṣetra, framed as a place where purity, impurity, and their resolution are authoritatively explained.
A rule-by-example: the gods avoid touching the mouth, indicating a ritual boundary regarding aśauca/impurity.