Skandapurana 6.1.26.53.4

6.1.26.53.4

dve vidye tattvarūpe ye parā caivāparā tathā ..
te dve ca mama rūpe dve nitye mūrtātmike mama .. 43 ..
.. ṛṣaya ūcuḥ .. ..
pitāmaha kathaṃ vidmo bhavaṃtaṃ paramaṃ vibhum ..
yenāsmākaṃ parā siddhirjāyate tava darśanāt .. 44 ..
.. brahmovāca .. ..
māheśvaraṃ paraṃ kṣetraṃ kuśasthalīti śabditam ..
yajñārthinā mayā devaḥ śrīkaṃṭhaḥ pārvatī patiḥ .. 45 ..
yācitastena devena ukto'haṃ parameṣṭhinā ..
samaṃtādyojanaṃ sāgraṃ kṣetrametatpitāmahaḥ .. 46 ..
mayā dattaṃ tava vibho mahākālavanādṛte ..
vāritaḥ sa mayā tatra vane gupto hi roṣataḥ ..
kapardinā ca tatrokto yāsyāmo na tavāṃtikam .. 47 ..
ārabdho vai tato yajño nārāyaṇaparigrahāt ..
jñātastathāpi me yajño devadevena śaṃbhunā .. 48 ..
yajñavāṭaṃ kapardīśastato bhikṣārthamāgataḥ ..
yājñikaiḥ so'tha tatrokto mātra tiṣṭha jugupsitaḥ .. 49 ..
kapardinā ca te tatra uktā yāsyāmyahaṃ punaḥ ..
evamuktvā kapālaṃ sa bhūmau saṃsthāpya tatra hi ..5.1.26.50..
snātuṃ nadīṃ yayau śiprāṃ kapardī parameśvaraḥ..
uktaṃ tasmingate śiprāṃ kapardini dvijātibhiḥ..51..
kathaṃ hi kriyate homaḥ kapāle sadasi sthite..
akapālāni śaucāni purā proktaṃ manīṣibhiḥ .. 52 ..
tatkapālaṃ sadasyena ukṣiptaṃ pāṇinā svayam ..
tasminkṣipte'bhavaccānyatpunaḥ kṣipte'bhavatpunaḥ .. 53 .

The two kinds of knowledge whose nature is truth, both the higher and the lower, / are my two forms, eternal and embodied. // The seers said: // O grandfather, how may we know you, the supreme lord, / through whose darśana the highest perfection is attained by us? // Brahmā said: // There is a supreme sacred field of Maheśvara, called Kuśasthalī. / Desiring to perform a sacrifice, I prayed to the god Śrīkaṇṭha, the lord of Pārvatī. // When begged, that god, Parameṣṭhin, said to me: / “This sacred field, a full yojana all around, O Grandfather, // is granted by me to you, O lord, except for the Mahākāla forest.” / There I was barred; hidden in that forest out of anger, / Kapardin said there: “We shall not come near you.” // Then the sacrifice was begun under the protection of Nārāyaṇa. / Yet my sacrifice was known by Śambhu, the god of gods. // Kapardin then came to the sacrificial enclosure to beg for alms. / Then the sacrificers said to him there: “Do not stay here, loathsome one!” // And Kapardin said to them there: “I shall return.” / Having said this and set down his skull-bowl right there on the ground, // Kapardin, the supreme lord, went to the river Śiprā to bathe. / When that Kapardin had gone to the Śiprā, the twice-born said: // “How can the fire-offering be made when a skull is resting in the assembly? / The wise declared of old that purifications are free of skulls.” // That skull was cast aside by an assembly member with his own hand. / When it was thrown, another appeared; when that was thrown, another appeared again.