Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 2
युधिष्ठिर उवाच । आशीविषेण सर्पेण ईश्वरस्तोषितः कथम् । क्षुद्राः सर्वस्य लोकस्य भयदा विषशालिनः
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | āśīviṣeṇa sarpeṇa īśvarastoṣitaḥ katham | kṣudrāḥ sarvasya lokasya bhayadā viṣaśālinaḥ
قال يودهيشثيرا: كيف رُضيَ الربّ بحيّةٍ سُمّية؟ إنّ أمثالَ هذه المخلوقات دنيئة، تحمل السمّ وتبعث الخوف في جميع الناس.
Yudhiṣṭhira
Tirtha: Maṇināgeśvara (context)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mārkaṇḍeya
Scene: Yudhiṣṭhira, thoughtful and slightly troubled, questions Mārkaṇḍeya about how a venomous serpent could please Īśvara; a stylized nāga silhouette appears as a narrative foreshadowing behind them.
FAQs
The verse sets up the theme that divine grace can be won even by unlikely beings, highlighting bhakti over social or species status.
The question pertains to Maṇināgeśvara, linked to Maṇināga the serpent devotee, on the Narmadā’s northern bank.
None; it is an inquiry initiating the origin and merit narrative of the shrine.