Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 20
चिरं नियोगं सुश्रोणि व्रतं पाशुपतं महत् । धारयंति यथोक्तं तु मम विस्मयकारकम् । तेषामनुग्रहार्थाय मम चित्तं प्रधावति
ciraṃ niyogaṃ suśroṇi vrataṃ pāśupataṃ mahat | dhārayaṃti yathoktaṃ tu mama vismayakārakam | teṣāmanugrahārthāya mama cittaṃ pradhāvati
اے خوش کمر والی! وہ مدتِ دراز سے سخت ضبط کے ساتھ عظیم پاشوپت ورت کو عین حکم کے مطابق نبھاتے ہیں—یہ بات مجھے حیرت میں ڈال دیتی ہے۔ ان پر کرپا کرنے کے لیے میرا چت ان ہی کی طرف دوڑتا ہے۔
Śiva (Īśvara)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)
Scene: At Prabhāsa’s sacred precinct, austere Pāśupata votaries stand with matted hair and ash-smeared bodies, maintaining strict discipline; Śiva, moved with wonder, turns his mind toward them in compassion, indicating imminent grace.
FAQs
Steady, rule-bound religious practice (vrata) attracts divine attention and culminates in grace (anugraha).
Prabhāsa-kṣetra as the setting where Pāśupata observance is upheld and rewarded.
Long-term observance of the great Pāśupata-vrata, maintained exactly according to injunction (yathokta).