Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 71
सूत उवाच । एवंविधैर्वचोभिश्च तोषितो मुनिसत्तमः । पप्रच्छ परया भक्त्या धर्मारण्यकथां शुभाम्
sūta uvāca | evaṃvidhairvacobhiśca toṣito munisattamaḥ | papraccha parayā bhaktyā dharmāraṇyakathāṃ śubhām
Sūta dit : Ainsi satisfait par des paroles de cette sorte, le meilleur des sages interrogea, avec une dévotion suprême, au sujet du récit auspicious de Dharmāraṇya.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa/Sūta narrator)
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (standard Sūta frame; implied)
Scene: Sūta as narrator describes a pleased great sage; the sage sits composed, while a devotee asks with folded hands about Dharmāraṇya’s auspicious story; listeners gather in a semi-circle.
FAQs
Sacred knowledge is best received through devotion (bhakti) and respectful inquiry, which opens the Mahātmya’s deeper meaning.
Dharmāraṇya is the named sacred locus; its auspicious kathā is the subject being formally requested.
None; the verse highlights bhakti-driven questioning and the commencement of the Mahātmya narration.