व्यास उवाच । शृणु वत्स प्रवक्ष्यामि धर्म्मारण्ये नृपोत्तम । एकदात्र तपस्तप्तं विष्णुनाऽमिततेजसा
vyāsa uvāca | śṛṇu vatsa pravakṣyāmi dharmmāraṇye nṛpottama | ekadātra tapastaptaṃ viṣṇunā'mitatejasā
Vyāsa dit : Écoute, mon enfant ; je vais l’exposer, ô le meilleur des rois. Jadis, ici même, à Dharmāraṇya, Viṣṇu, à la splendeur sans limite, accomplit l’austérité.
Vyāsa
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Nṛpottama (king; unnamed here)
Scene: Vyāsa addresses a king as ‘vatṣa’, beginning the account: in Dharmāraṇya, Viṣṇu of immeasurable splendor once performed austerity.
Sacred places are sanctified by divine tapas; hearing their history is part of tīrtha-māhātmya devotion.
Dharmāraṇya, introduced as the locus of Viṣṇu’s austerities.
No direct prescription; the verse introduces tapas as the sanctifying act.