Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 20
तान्येवाग्रे प्रलीयन्ते भिन्नान्युरुजलेन वै । अथ संक्षीयमाणासु सरित्सु सह सागरैः
tānyevāgre pralīyante bhinnānyurujalena vai | atha saṃkṣīyamāṇāsu saritsu saha sāgaraiḥ
D’abord, ces eaux mêmes disparaissent, disloquées et submergées par d’immenses crues; puis, lorsque les rivières—avec les océans—se mettent à décroître, le monde s’achemine vers l’assèchement.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration; likely Sūta-style narration within Āvantya Khaṇḍa)
Scene: A split-scene: in the foreground torrents smash and fragment streams; in the distance the same waterways shrink into thin threads, leaving exposed stones and cracked banks—time-lapse of catastrophe.
FAQs
All conditioned phenomena— even mighty waters—are impermanent; therefore one should seek refuge in dharma and sacred tirthas.
The wider context is the Revā Khaṇḍa, oriented toward Revā/Narmadā and her tirthas, though this verse itself sets the crisis (drying of waters).
No explicit rite is prescribed here; it introduces the environmental/cosmic condition that prompts seeking a sacred refuge.