Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 12
सूत उवाच । अहं वः कीर्तयिष्यामि कथामेतां पुरातनीम् । कथितां भर्तृयज्ञेन आनर्ताधिपतेः स्वयम्
sūta uvāca | ahaṃ vaḥ kīrtayiṣyāmi kathāmetāṃ purātanīm | kathitāṃ bhartṛyajñena ānartādhipateḥ svayam
Sūta sprach: „Ich will euch diese uralte Erzählung verkünden – wie sie Bhartṛyajña selbst, der Herr von Ānarta, berichtet hat.“
Sūta
Tirtha: Ānarta-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: assembled inquirers (ṛṣis/pilgrims; not individually named here)
Scene: Sūta begins speaking, holding a manuscript, announcing he will recount an ancient story as told by Bhartṛyajña, the Ānarta king; listeners sit in attentive silence.
FAQs
Purāṇic truth is preserved through faithful transmission—an ancient kṣetra-kathā is recounted with named authority and lineage.
The verse introduces the narrative source; the particular tīrtha is elaborated in the ensuing story.
None here; it is the formal beginning of the authoritative narration.