Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 69
विवाहं तत्र कुर्वंतो मिलितास्ते द्विजोत्तमाः । कोटिकन्याकुलं तत्र एकत्रासीन्महोत्सवे । धर्मारण्ये महाप्राज्ञ सत्यं सत्यं वदाम्यहम्
vivāhaṃ tatra kurvaṃto militāste dvijottamāḥ | koṭikanyākulaṃ tatra ekatrāsīnmahotsave | dharmāraṇye mahāprājña satyaṃ satyaṃ vadāmyaham
Als sich dort die Besten der Zweimalgeborenen versammelten, um Eheschließungen zu vollziehen, befand sich bei jenem großen Fest in Dharmāraṇya an einem Ort eine Schar von Jungfrauen, nach Koṭis gezählt. O großer Weiser, ich spreche die Wahrheit, die Wahrheit.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) [deduced; emphatic ‘satyaṃ satyaṃ vadāmyaham’ is typical narrator emphasis]
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: mahāprajña (addressed) / Bhārata-context
Scene: A panoramic festival scene in Dharmāraṇya: rows of marriage pavilions, priests chanting, lamps and banners, and an immense assembly of maidens and families; the narrator’s emphatic ‘truth, truth’ frames the spectacle.
FAQs
The tīrtha’s greatness is shown through extraordinary auspicious gatherings, where dharmic sacraments flourish on a vast scale.
Dharmāraṇya, depicted as a place capable of hosting immense sacred assemblies and rites.
Vivāha-saṃskāra (marriage sacrament) is explicitly mentioned as being performed there during a mahotsava.