Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 10
अथ ते सन्निधौ दृष्ट्वा गंभीरं सलिलाशयम् । प्रविष्टा हरिणाः सर्वे भयार्ताः शरपीडिताः
atha te sannidhau dṛṣṭvā gaṃbhīraṃ salilāśayam | praviṣṭā hariṇāḥ sarve bhayārtāḥ śarapīḍitāḥ
Puis, voyant tout près un profond réservoir d’eau, tous les cerfs y entrèrent, tourmentés par la peur et meurtris par les flèches des chasseurs.
Sūta
Type: kund
Listener: dvijottama (addressed as ‘best of the twice-born’)
Scene: A herd of deer, pierced by arrows and panicked, rushes into a dark, deep pool beside a forest path; hunters loom at the edge with bows, dust and leaves swirling.
FAQs
Sacred waters are portrayed as refuge and turning-point—anticipating the tīrtha’s later role as purifier and protector.
The water-body that becomes central to the Mṛgatīrtha-māhātmya narrative.
No explicit prescription here, but the narrative foregrounds water as the medium of sanctification that later supports snāna-based merit.