Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 78
गौतम उवाच । यदि देयो वरोऽस्माकं समर्थोऽसि वरप्रद । यत्र स्थाने मया दृष्टाः प्रेता यूयं सुदुःखिताः । तत्राहं चाश्रमं कृत्वा करिष्ये चोत्तमं तपः
gautama uvāca | yadi deyo varo'smākaṃ samartho'si varaprada | yatra sthāne mayā dṛṣṭāḥ pretā yūyaṃ suduḥkhitāḥ | tatrāhaṃ cāśramaṃ kṛtvā kariṣye cottamaṃ tapaḥ
Gautama sprach: „O Spender der Gaben, wenn du imstande bist, uns eine Gabe zu gewähren, dann werde ich an eben dem Ort, wo ich euch—ihr Preta—so überaus leidend sah, eine Āśrama errichten und die höchste Askese üben.“
Gautama
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (localized preta-darśana-sthāna)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Gautama, moved by pity, addresses a boon-giver; behind him, faint translucent pretas in distress near a coastal grove; he points to the ground, vowing to build an āśrama and perform severe austerities.
FAQs
Compassion becomes sacred action: seeing suffering, the sage vows disciplined tapas and the founding of a holy āśrama for the welfare of beings.
The context is Prabhāsa-kṣetra, specifically the locality later associated with Gātramocana and the Pretatīrtha tradition.
Establishing an āśrama and undertaking uttama-tapas (high austerity) at the spiritually charged location.