Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 47
मत्स्य उवाच । अहं मत्स्योदरे क्षिप्तः समुद्रे क्षीरसंभवे । मात्रा तु पितृवाक्येन नायं मम कुलान्वितः
matsya uvāca | ahaṃ matsyodare kṣiptaḥ samudre kṣīrasaṃbhave | mātrā tu pitṛvākyena nāyaṃ mama kulānvitaḥ
Der Fisch sprach: „Ich wurde in den Bauch eines Fisches geworfen, im Ozean, der aus Milch entstanden ist. Doch durch meine Mutter—dem Wort meines Vaters folgend—gehört dieser nicht zu meiner Linie.“
Matsya (the fish) speaking within Brahmā’s narration
Listener: A ‘vaṃśaja’ (descendant) addressed within the narrative frame
Scene: A speaking fish recounts being cast into the belly of another fish in the luminous Ocean of Milk; the mother, bound by the father’s command, denies lineage—an underwater scene of exile and cosmic waters.
FAQs
Tīrtha legends often turn on hidden origins and dharmic causality, where identity and destiny are not obvious on the surface.
The mythic setting is the Kṣīrasāgara connected to an unnamed city in this excerpt; the exact tīrtha name is not stated here.
None; this is narrative exposition within the māhātmya.