Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 5
सूत उवाच । एतावदेव मर्त्यानां परं श्रेयः सनातनम् । यदीश्वरकथायां वै जाता भक्तिरहैतुकी
sūta uvāca | etāvadeva martyānāṃ paraṃ śreyaḥ sanātanam | yadīśvarakathāyāṃ vai jātā bhaktirahaitukī
સૂતજીએ કહ્યું—મર્ત્યો માટે આ જ પરમ અને સનાતન શ્રેય છે; જ્યારે ઈશ્વરકથામાં નિર્હેતુક, નિષ્કામ ભક્તિ પ્રગટે।
Sūta
Listener: Ṛṣis (Naimiṣāraṇya frame implied)
Scene: Sūta, seated in a sacred assembly, proclaims that the highest good is the arising of causeless devotion through discourse on the Lord; listeners sit attentive in a forest-āśrama setting.
FAQs
The supreme welfare of human life is ahaitukī bhakti—pure devotion born from hearing and contemplating the Lord’s kathā.
No specific tīrtha is mentioned; the verse teaches a universal purāṇic dharma of devotion through sacred narration.
Engagement in īśvara-kathā (listening/recitation) is the implied sādhana leading to devotion.