Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 27
येनाहमग्रतो भूत्वा प्रायश्चित्तं विशुद्धये । पुरश्चरणसंज्ञं तु प्रार्थयामि यथाविधि
yenāhamagrato bhūtvā prāyaścittaṃ viśuddhaye | puraścaraṇasaṃjñaṃ tu prārthayāmi yathāvidhi
Damit ich, an der Spitze stehend, zur Läuterung die Sühnehandlung (prāyaścitta) vollziehen kann, erbitte ich—der Vorschrift gemäß—das Ritual namens puraścaraṇa.
Puṣpa (implied first-person speech continuing from the prior verse)
Tirtha: Puraścaraṇa-sthāna at the consecrated kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Puṣpa stands before assembled brāhmaṇas, requesting the puraścaraṇa rite; he gestures forward as leader, yet with humility, in a sanctified courtyard with ritual implements laid out.
FAQs
Purification is sought through disciplined, rule-based practice (vidhi), not merely through intention.
The request occurs within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya narrative, where the tīrtha context frames the expiatory rite.
Puraścaraṇa is explicitly requested as the prescribed expiatory discipline.