Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 6
कथयस्व कथां सूत पुण्यां पापनिषूदिनीम् । श्रुत्वा यां याति विलयं पापं जन्मशतोद्भवम्
kathayasva kathāṃ sūta puṇyāṃ pāpaniṣūdinīm | śrutvā yāṃ yāti vilayaṃ pāpaṃ janmaśatodbhavam
«Berichte, o Sūta, die heilige Erzählung, verdienstvoll und sündenvernichtend. Wer sie hört, dessen über hundert Geburten angesammelte Sünden gehen zugrunde.»
Ṛṣis (Śaunaka and others)
Listener: Sūta
Scene: Sages earnestly request the Sūta to narrate; the air feels charged with sanctity—hands folded, eyes intent—suggesting the promised dissolution of sins through hearing.
FAQs
Hearing sacred Purāṇic narration with faith is portrayed as a powerful purifier that destroys long-accumulated sin.
No single tīrtha is named here; the merit is tied to śravaṇa (hearing) within the Naimiṣāraṇya assembly.
The implied prescription is kathā-śravaṇa—listening to a holy narrative as a purificatory dharmic act.