Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 32
सरितः सागराः शैलाः क्षयं प्राप्ता ह्यनेकशः । त्वमेका तु कथं साध्वि तिष्ठसे कारणं महत् । श्रोतुमिच्छाम्यहं देवि कथयस्व ह्यशेषतः
saritaḥ sāgarāḥ śailāḥ kṣayaṃ prāptā hyanekaśaḥ | tvamekā tu kathaṃ sādhvi tiṣṭhase kāraṇaṃ mahat | śrotumicchāmyahaṃ devi kathayasva hyaśeṣataḥ
「川も海も山も――まことに多くが――幾度となく滅びに至った。しかるに汝ひとりは残る。いかなるゆえか、徳ある淑女よ。聞きたいのだ、女神よ――その大いなる理由を余すところなく語り給え。」
Manu
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)
Type: river
Listener: A king (rājendra)
Scene: A seeker addresses a radiant river-goddess, asking why she alone endures when rivers, seas, and mountains perish; the backdrop suggests pralaya-waters and vanished landscapes.
FAQs
The tīrtha’s sanctity is not merely physical; it is upheld by divine origin and purpose beyond worldly dissolution.
Revā (Narmadā), presented as uniquely enduring and worthy of full theological explanation.
None directly; the verse requests the complete teaching that grounds later devotional practice.