Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4
शृणु कांते विचित्रार्थां कथां पापप्रणाशिनीम् । पुण्यशीलसुशीलाभ्यां कथितां शिवशर्मणे
śṛṇu kāṃte vicitrārthāṃ kathāṃ pāpapraṇāśinīm | puṇyaśīlasuśīlābhyāṃ kathitāṃ śivaśarmaṇe
愛しき人よ、聞きなさい。罪を滅する不思議な趣の物語を――徳あるプンニャシーラとスシーラーがシヴァシャルマーに語ったものを。
Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-māhātmya (as the larger setting)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lopāmudrā
Scene: Agastya invites Lopāmudrā to listen; the ‘wondrous tale’ is visualized as two luminous figures—Puṇyaśīla and Suśīlā—speaking to Śivaśarmā, like a story unfolding in the air between teacher and student.
FAQs
Purāṇic kathā, when heard with faith, is itself purifying—destroying sin by reorienting the listener toward dharma.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it introduces a sin-destroying narrative within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting.
Śravaṇa (listening) to a pāpa-praṇāśinī kathā is implied as a spiritual practice.