Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 84
पञ्चाङ्गानि पुराणस्य चाख्यानमितरत्स्मृतम् । सर्गश्च प्रतिसर्गश्च वंशो मन्वन्तराणि च । वंशानुवंशचरितं पुराणं पञ्चलक्षणम्
pañcāṅgāni purāṇasya cākhyānamitaratsmṛtam | sargaśca pratisargaśca vaṃśo manvantarāṇi ca | vaṃśānuvaṃśacaritaṃ purāṇaṃ pañcalakṣaṇam
A Purāṇa has five limbs; whatever else is mere narrative is remembered as ancillary. Creation, re-creation, genealogies, the Manvantaras, and the accounts of dynasties within dynasties—these are the five defining marks of a Purāṇa.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages (dvijas)
Scene: A schematic teaching scene: the narrator enumerates the five limbs of a Purāṇa, with symbolic panels showing creation, dissolution/re-creation, royal genealogies, Manus, and dynastic sub-stories.
FAQs
It teaches how Purāṇas preserve sacred memory—cosmic origins and dharmic history—through a structured fivefold framework.
Prabhāsa Kṣetra frames the discourse, but this verse itself defines Purāṇic features rather than praising a particular tīrtha.
None; this is a technical definition of Purāṇic composition.