Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14
यो मार्कंड इति ख्यातः प्रथमं परिकीर्तितः । संभूतिस्तस्य संप्रोक्ता युष्माकं पापनाशिनी
yo mārkaṃḍa iti khyātaḥ prathamaṃ parikīrtitaḥ | saṃbhūtistasya saṃproktā yuṣmākaṃ pāpanāśinī
« Celui qui est renommé sous le nom de Markaṇḍa sera évoqué en premier ; à présent, j’exposerai son origine — un récit qui détruit vos péchés. »
Sūta
Listener: yūyam (addressed audience, likely sages)
Scene: The narrator announces Markaṇḍa’s famed name and promises to recount his birth/origin; listeners lean forward in anticipation, suggesting the kathā’s purifying power.
FAQs
Remembering and hearing the lives of great ṛṣis within a tīrtha-māhātmya is itself purifying (pāpa-nāśinī).
The verse introduces a key figure (Markaṇḍa) likely tied to the site’s sanctity; the exact tīrtha context is developed next.
No explicit ritual; the purificatory act highlighted is attentive hearing of the forthcoming account.