Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5
ईश्वर उवाच । आसीत्त्रेतायुगे पूर्वं राजा स्वायंभुवेंतरे । श्वेतकेतुरिति ख्यातो राजर्षिः सुमहातपाः
īśvara uvāca | āsīttretāyuge pūrvaṃ rājā svāyaṃbhuveṃtare | śvetaketuriti khyāto rājarṣiḥ sumahātapāḥ
Īśvara said: “Formerly, in the Tretā Yuga—during the Svāyambhuva Manvantara—there lived a king renowned as Śvetaketu, a royal seer of exceedingly great austerity.”
Īśvara (Śiva)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (context for Śvetaketu’s liṅga)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī
Scene: Īśvara narrates: a Tretā-yuga king Śvetaketu, radiant yet austere, appears in a timeless tableau—royal insignia subdued by ascetic marks, indicating rājarṣi status.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma honors rulers who become rājarṣis—joining governance with tapas—showing that spiritual greatness can arise within worldly duty.
The narrative is being set up for Prabhāsakṣetra, where Śvetaketu’s devotion will be anchored.
None directly; the verse introduces the exemplary devotee whose tapas becomes the basis for the site’s sanctity.