Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1
युधिष्ठिर उवाच । नरकाणां स्वरूपं च श्रुत्वा मे भयमागतम् । कथं मुक्तिर्भवेत्तेषां पापानामपि पार्थिव । व्रतैर्वा नियमैर्वापि होमैर्वा तीर्थसंश्रयैः
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | narakāṇāṃ svarūpaṃ ca śrutvā me bhayamāgatam | kathaṃ muktirbhavetteṣāṃ pāpānāmapi pārthiva | vratairvā niyamairvāpi homairvā tīrthasaṃśrayaiḥ
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: Nachdem ich von der Beschaffenheit der Höllen gehört habe, ist Furcht über mich gekommen. O König, wie kann selbst für jene Sünder Befreiung erlangt werden—durch Gelübde (vrata), durch Disziplinen (niyama), durch Feueropfer (homa) oder durch Zuflucht zu heiligen Tīrthas?
Yudhiṣṭhira
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (implied as the forthcoming locus of remedy)
Type: river
Listener: Bhīṣma
Scene: A solemn dialogue: Yudhiṣṭhira, anxious after hearing of hells, questions Bhīṣma about means of release—vows, disciplines, homa, and refuge in tīrthas.
FAQs
Fear becomes a catalyst for dharma: the right response to hearing about naraka is to seek prāyaścitta—vows, discipline, ritual, and tīrtha-centered purification.
No single site is named in this verse; it introduces the theme of taking refuge in tīrthas within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya setting.
The verse lists categories of remedies—vrata (vows), niyama (disciplines), homa (fire-offerings), and tīrtha-saṃśraya (resort to sacred places)—as the avenues to be explained.