Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 140
एतद्वः कथितं सर्वं माहात्म्यं सूर्यसंभवम् । यः शृणोति नरो भक्त्या अश्वमेधफलं लभेत्
etadvaḥ kathitaṃ sarvaṃ māhātmyaṃ sūryasaṃbhavam | yaḥ śṛṇoti naro bhaktyā aśvamedhaphalaṃ labhet
Ainsi vous ai-je exposé entièrement cette grandeur née de la puissance de Sūrya. L’homme qui l’écoute avec dévotion obtient le fruit du sacrifice Aśvamedha.
Narratorial voice within the Māhātmya (speaker not explicit in this verse)
Tirtha: Sūrya-sambhava māhātmya (Ratnāditya / Dvādaśārka context)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dvijottamāḥ / general devotees
Scene: A narrator-sage concludes the Sūrya-māhātmya; listeners sit in a semicircle with folded hands; a manuscript/palm-leaf text is present; the atmosphere is devotional and complete, as if a yajña has been accomplished through words.
FAQs
Devotional listening (śravaṇa) to a tīrtha’s māhātmya is itself a high-yield dharma act, equated with major Vedic sacrifice merit.
The broader chapter context is Śrīhāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya within Nāgarakhaṇḍa, with emphasis on a Sūrya-connected greatness.
Śravaṇa—hearing the māhātmya with bhakti—is prescribed as the practice and is said to yield Aśvamedha-like fruit.