Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 120
रक्षितं पालितं केन कस्मिन्कालेऽथ निर्मितम् । किंकिं त्वत्राभवत्पूर्वं शंशैतत्पृच्छतो मम
rakṣitaṃ pālitaṃ kena kasminkāle'tha nirmitam | kiṃkiṃ tvatrābhavatpūrvaṃ śaṃśaitatpṛcchato mama
مَن الذي حماه ورعاه، وفي أي زمان أُقيم؟ وما الذي جرى هنا في الأزمنة السالفة؟ أخبرني بهذا، فإني أسأل.
Unspecified questioner (within the Dharmāraṇya narrative dialogue frame)
Scene: A respectful questioner (likely a king or disciple) addresses a sage/narrator, asking about the site’s protection, maintenance, and founding era; the setting suggests a hermitage near a sacred forest/river.
FAQs
Sacred geography is approached through reverent inquiry—learning a place’s custodianship and origins is part of receiving its māhātmya.
Dharmāraṇya (the sacred locale under discussion), with attention to its historical guardians and founding.
None; it initiates a historical/etiological explanation typical of tīrtha-māhātmyas.