Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 2
दुस्तरे दुरितांभोधौ मज्जतां विषयात्मनाम् । शिवपूजां विना कश्चित्प्लवो नास्ति निरूपितः
dustare duritāṃbhodhau majjatāṃ viṣayātmanām | śivapūjāṃ vinā kaścitplavo nāsti nirūpitaḥ
گناہوں کے اس دشوار گزار سمندر میں، جہاں موضوعاتِ حِس میں ڈوبے لوگ غرق ہو رہے ہیں، شیو پوجا کے سوا کوئی کشتی یا بیڑا مقرر نہیں کیا گیا۔
Sūta (continuing narration)
Listener: Sages at Naimiṣāraṇya (implied)
Scene: Allegorical tableau: a vast dark ocean labeled ‘durita’; people clutching at waves of ‘viṣaya’; a luminous raft shaped like a Śiva-liṅga or a boat bearing the liṅga and bilva leaves; Śiva’s compassionate gaze from the horizon as a guiding light.
FAQs
Sense-attachment sinks the soul in pāpa; Śiva-pūjā is upheld as the decisive means of rescue and inner crossing.
No site is specified; the focus is on the universal salvific power of Śiva worship.
Śiva-pūjā (worship of Śiva) is prescribed as the essential practice.