Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 5
परं नासौ वेद पाण्डून्पाण्डवास्तं च नो विदुः । आजन्म यस्मान्नैवाभूत्पाण्डूनां चास्य संगमः
paraṃ nāsau veda pāṇḍūnpāṇḍavāstaṃ ca no viduḥ | ājanma yasmānnaivābhūtpāṇḍūnāṃ cāsya saṃgamaḥ
Indeed, he did not know Pāṇḍu, and the Pāṇḍavas too did not know him; for from birth there had never been any meeting between him and Pāṇḍu’s sons.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa convention)
Scene: Barbarīka and the Pāṇḍavas stand within sight of each other near the shrine, yet their faces show no recognition—only cautious curiosity—while the Devī’s presence looms as silent witness.
FAQs
Providence arranges encounters at sacred places; even unknown beings become instruments in dharma’s unfolding.
The immediate context points toward a sacred kuṇḍa (pond), later referenced as Devī-kuṇḍa in the same passage.
None explicitly here; it functions as narrative groundwork for the tīrtha-related injunctions that follow.