Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 26
सौराष्ट्रं मनसि ध्यात्वा प्रस्थितस्तदनन्तरम् । सुभिक्षं लोकतः श्रुत्वा जीवनाय द्विजोत्तमाः
saurāṣṭraṃ manasi dhyātvā prasthitastadanantaram | subhikṣaṃ lokataḥ śrutvā jīvanāya dvijottamāḥ
وقد جعلتُ سَوْرَاشْتْرَةَ في خاطري، فانطلقتُ من فوري—إذ سمعتُ من الناس أنّ فيها سَعَةً ورَغَدًا، لكي نبقى أحياء، يا خيرَ ذوي الولادتين.
Unspecified narrator (a merchant/traveler) within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya
Tirtha: Saurāṣṭra-maṇḍala (regional kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Addressed to ‘dvijottamāḥ’ (best of twice-born), implying a brāhmaṇa audience within the frame narrative
Scene: A weary brāhmaṇa traveler, with spouse, pauses at the threshold of a long journey; Saurashtra is envisioned as a luminous western land in his mind, while the road stretches ahead under a hot sky.
FAQs
In distress, one seeks a sustaining refuge; the Purāṇic pattern often turns such journeys into encounters with tīrthas and renewed dharma.
Saurāṣṭra is indicated as the destination region; the particular tīrtha is introduced in the subsequent verses.
None; it narrates the decision to travel based on hearing of abundance.