Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 85
वृत्तैः सपुलकैः स्निग्धैः स्त्रीणामिव पयोधरैः । दुष्प्राप्यैरल्पपुण्यानां क्वचिदाभाति बिल्वकैः
vṛttaiḥ sapulakaiḥ snigdhaiḥ strīṇāmiva payodharaiḥ | duṣprāpyairalpapuṇyānāṃ kvacidābhāti bilvakaiḥ
کچھ جگہوں پر یہ بیل کے درختوں سے چمکتا ہے—گول، چکنے اور تازہ کونپلوں سے پُررونق، گویا عورتوں کے پَیودھر؛ اور کم پُنّیہ والوں کے لیے یہ بیل دُشوار الحصول ہیں۔
Narrator (within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya context)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Somnātha sphere)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A grove of glossy, round bilva clusters with fresh bristling shoots; the poet’s simile overlays a sensual human form, yet the devotional subtext marks bilva as a rare Śiva-offering granted only to the meritorious.
FAQs
Merit (puṇya) conditions access to sacred abundance; the holy grove’s gifts are portrayed as rare for the spiritually unprepared.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra’s bilva-filled areas are praised as especially auspicious and spiritually ‘rare’.
No explicit rite is stated, though bilva is traditionally associated with Śiva-upacāra (offering), implied by the sacred setting.