Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 21
एतत्सर्वं क्रमेणैव तथ्यं त्वं वेत्थ सांप्रतम् । अयोध्याया महापुर्य्या माहात्म्यं वक्तुमर्हसि
etatsarvaṃ krameṇaiva tathyaṃ tvaṃ vettha sāṃpratam | ayodhyāyā mahāpuryyā māhātmyaṃ vaktumarhasi
You know all these matters, in proper sequence and in truth. Therefore you ought to relate the māhātmya of the great city of Ayodhyā.
Ṛṣis (sages)
Tirtha: Ayodhyā
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sūta
Scene: Forest hermitage setting: assembled ṛṣis request the narrator to expound Ayodhyā’s greatness; the moment is calm, anticipatory, and reverential—hands folded, kusa seats, sacrificial fire nearby.
FAQs
True teaching is orderly and faithful to tradition; the hearers request an authoritative, accurate māhātmya.
Ayodhyā, explicitly named as a mahāpurī whose greatness is to be proclaimed.
None; it is a formal commissioning of the narration.