Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 8
शक्तींश्चैव वसूंश्चैव ग्रहान्यज्ञादिदेवताः । नमस्कृत्य शुभान्विप्रान्कविमुख्यांश्च सर्वशः
śaktīṃścaiva vasūṃścaiva grahānyajñādidevatāḥ | namaskṛtya śubhānviprānkavimukhyāṃśca sarvaśaḥ
«Rendant hommage aussi aux Śaktis, aux Vasus, aux Grahas (puissances célestes) et aux divinités qui président au sacrifice et aux autres rites ; et me prosternant de toutes manières devant les brāhmaṇas de bon augure ainsi que les sages et poètes les plus éminents.»
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa)
Listener: ṛṣayaḥ
Scene: Sūta’s salutations expand outward: subtle iconographic hints of Śaktis (feminine energies), eight Vasus, nine Grahas in a celestial arc, and yajña-devatās around a symbolic altar; brāhmaṇas and poet-sages receive reverence in the foreground.
FAQs
Dharma begins with reverence—honoring divine forces and the learned guardians of sacred speech and ritual.
No specific site is mentioned; it is a universal invocation prior to narration.
It implies the customary practice of offering salutations to presiding deities of yajña and to brāhmaṇas before commencing sacred recitation.