Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 23
हृदिस्थं देव जानामि गतं तद्वेदगर्जनात् । वेदानुच्चरतो मेऽद्य तव शङ्कर चाग्रतः
hṛdisthaṃ deva jānāmi gataṃ tadvedagarjanāt | vedānuccarato me'dya tava śaṅkara cāgrataḥ
Ô Dieu, je sais que ce qui demeurait en mon cœur s’en est allé, emporté par le rugissement du Veda. Aujourd’hui, incapable de réciter les Vedas, je me tiens devant toi, ô Śaṅkara.
Brahmā (deduced, addressing Śiva as Śaṅkara)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tirtha-cycle (contextual)
Type: river
Scene: A supplicant (likely Brahmā or a Vedic personification) stands before Śaṅkara, hands folded, expressing that the Vedas once seated in his heart have departed amid a thunderous Vedic roar; the atmosphere is solemn and confessional.
FAQs
The verse stresses that Vedic recitation is not mere sound but a bearer of inner spiritual capacity; its absence is experienced as loss and helplessness before the Divine.
No tīrtha is named in this specific verse; it remains within the Revā Khaṇḍa narrative setting.
Veda-ucchāraṇa (proper recitation) is implied as essential, though no detailed procedure is given.