Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 1
सूत उवाच । इति श्रुत्वा वचो धीमानादरात्कुंभजन्मनः । प्रोवाच मधुरं वाक्यं कृष्णद्वैपायनो मुनिः
sūta uvāca | iti śrutvā vaco dhīmānādarātkuṃbhajanmanaḥ | provāca madhuraṃ vākyaṃ kṛṣṇadvaipāyano muniḥ
সূত বললেন—কুম্ভজন্মা (অগস্ত্য) মুনির জ্ঞানপূর্ণ বাক্য এভাবে শুনে, কৃষ্ণদ্বৈপায়ন (ব্যাস) মুনি শ্রদ্ধাভরে মধুর বাক্য উচ্চারণ করলেন।
Sūta
Listener: (implied) Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (standard Sūta frame; not named in this verse)
Scene: Sūta narrates: Vyāsa, having respectfully heard Agastya’s words, begins to speak sweetly—two sages seated in a forest hermitage with disciples listening.
FAQs
Reverent listening to realized sages is presented as the doorway to receiving purāṇic wisdom about sacred places.
The verse is a narrative transition within Ayodhyā Māhātmya; the specific tīrtha praise begins in the subsequent verses.
No ritual is prescribed here; it introduces the respectful dialogue that will describe tīrtha-merit.