Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 2
युधिष्ठिर उवाच । प्रभासं तात मे ब्रूहि कथं जातं महाफलम् । स्वर्गसोपानदं दृश्यं संक्षेपात्कथयस्व मे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | prabhāsaṃ tāta me brūhi kathaṃ jātaṃ mahāphalam | svargasopānadaṃ dṛśyaṃ saṃkṣepātkathayasva me
Yudhiṣṭhira said: Father, tell me of Prabhāsa—how did it come to yield such great fruit? This visible “giver of the stairway to heaven”—explain it to me in brief.
Yudhiṣṭhira
Tirtha: Prabhāsa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mārkaṇḍeya (addressed as ‘tāta’/fatherly sage)
Scene: A royal inquirer (Yudhiṣṭhira) respectfully questions a sage-father figure about the mysterious, heaven-leading power of Prabhāsa; the scene frames the opening of a tīrtha-māhātmya narration.
FAQs
Sacred places are understood through their origin-stories (māhātmya), which reveal why their merit is considered extraordinary.
Prabhāsa (connected with Prabhāseśvara) is the focus of inquiry.
No direct ritual is prescribed; the verse initiates a request for the tīrtha’s condensed māhātmya narration.