Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26
ब्रह्मोवाच । यदि पापजनाकीर्णं न वांछसि धरातलम् । पातालतलसंस्था त्वं नय वह्निं महोदधौ
brahmovāca | yadi pāpajanākīrṇaṃ na vāṃchasi dharātalam | pātālatalasaṃsthā tvaṃ naya vahniṃ mahodadhau
พระพรหมตรัสว่า “หากเจ้าไม่ปรารถนาให้พื้นพิภพแน่นขนัดด้วยผู้บาปไซร้ จงสถิตอยู่ ณ ปาตาล และนำไฟนี้ไปสู่มหาสมุทรอันยิ่งใหญ่เถิด”
Brahmā
Tirtha: Prabhāsa (sea-shore tīrtha) / Mahodadhi-snāna
Type: kshetra
Listener: A ‘daughter’ figure (personified feminine power/earth-related maiden in the episode)
Scene: Brahmā, serene and four-faced, instructs a personified feminine figure to descend to the nether regions and guide a blazing fire toward the vast ocean; the horizon shows a sacred coastline with ritual silhouettes.
FAQs
When the world becomes morally turbulent, dharma provides protected pathways—channeling dangerous forces away from society and preserving purity.
The Prabhāsakṣetra māhātmya frames the episode, tying the region’s sanctity to cosmic measures involving ocean and subterranean realms.
No ritual is prescribed; it is a cosmological directive: move the Vāḍava fire into the great ocean and reside in Pātāla levels.