Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 38
स नदीः पर्वताश्चैव आश्रमान्सरसीस्तथा । परिभ्रमन्महादेवः पृष्ठस्थं तमवैक्षत
sa nadīḥ parvatāścaiva āśramānsarasīstathā | paribhramanmahādevaḥ pṛṣṭhasthaṃ tamavaikṣata
وہ دریاؤں، پہاڑوں، آشرموں اور جھیلوں میں بھٹکتا رہا؛ اور مہادیو جب جب چلتے، اسے ہمیشہ اپنی پشت کے پیچھے ہی قائم دیکھتے رہے۔
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), narrating to the sages (deduced)
Listener: Pāṇḍunandana (addressed later in the sequence; narrative is being told to a Pāṇḍava)
Scene: Mahādeva strides through a shifting sacred landscape—riverbanks, mountain passes, hermitages, lotus lakes—yet repeatedly turns to see a figure steadfastly behind him, unshaken by terrain or distance.
FAQs
Restlessness cannot escape inner conflict; the pursuer (desire) follows until it is consciously faced and resolved.
No single site is named; the verse evokes sacred geography broadly—rivers, mountains, āśramas, and lakes as sanctified spaces.
None; it is descriptive of movement through sacred landscapes.