Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 2
व्यास उवाच । शृणु पार्थ महापुण्यां कथां स्कंदपुराणजाम् । स्थाणुनोक्तां च स्कंदाय धर्मारण्योद्भवां शुभाम्
vyāsa uvāca | śṛṇu pārtha mahāpuṇyāṃ kathāṃ skaṃdapurāṇajām | sthāṇunoktāṃ ca skaṃdāya dharmāraṇyodbhavāṃ śubhām
व्यास बोले—हे पार्थ! स्कन्दपुराण से उत्पन्न यह महापुण्य कथा सुनो। यह धर्मारण्य में प्रकट हुई शुभ कथा है, जिसे स्थाणु (शिव) ने स्कन्द से कहा था।
Vyāsa
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pārtha (addressed) / Yudhiṣṭhira (frame listener)
Scene: Vyāsa, composed and authoritative, gestures as if opening a sacred discourse; behind him, a faint visionary overlay suggests Śiva (Sthāṇu) instructing Skanda, indicating the lineage of the story; Dharmāraṇya’s forest sanctity subtly present.
FAQs
Purāṇic māhātmyas are powerful conveyors of puṇya, especially when they transmit Śiva’s teaching lineage to Skanda.
Dharmāraṇya, identified as the auspicious setting/source of the narrative.
No explicit rite is stated; the instruction is to hear (śṛṇu) the sacred account.