Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 27
अकुलीनो ह्यसौ विप्रा नष्टो नष्टप्रियः सदा । भूतप्रेतपिशाचानां पतिरेको दुरत्ययः
akulīno hyasau viprā naṣṭo naṣṭapriyaḥ sadā | bhūtapretapiśācānāṃ patireko duratyayaḥ
اے برہمنو! وہ شریف النسل نہیں—تباہ حال ہے اور ہمیشہ کھوئی ہوئی چیزوں کا دلدادہ رہتا ہے۔ بھوت، پریت اور پِشَچوں کا وہی اکیلا سردار ہے، جس پر غالب آنا نہایت دشوار ہے۔
Same hostile/obstructive figure (contextual), speaking disparagingly of Rudra/Śiva
Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedārakṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame)
Scene: A tense sacrificial assembly where a speaker denounces a formidable figure as ‘low-born’ yet terrifying—lord of bhūtas, pretas, and piśācas—hinting at Rudra’s overwhelming, liminal power.
FAQs
It shows how ignorance can misread ascetic divinity as inauspicious; Purāṇas often reverse such slander by revealing the deity’s true supremacy.
Kedāra-kṣetra is the contextual setting; the narrative tension functions to heighten the later affirmation of Śiva’s greatness in the region.
None; it is descriptive (and derogatory) characterization within the story.