Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3
तदा तत्र पदं न्यस्तं दक्षिणं विश्वरूपिणा । द्वितीयं मेरुशृंगे तु तृतीयं गगने प्रिये
tadā tatra padaṃ nyastaṃ dakṣiṇaṃ viśvarūpiṇā | dvitīyaṃ meruśṛṃge tu tṛtīyaṃ gagane priye
そのとき、宇宙の御姿なる主は、そこで右足を踏み下ろされた。第二の歩みはメール山の峰に、第三の歩みは、愛しき者よ、まさに天空にあった。
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Purāṇic narration style within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya)
Tirtha: Viṣṇupāda/Trivikrama-pāda-sthāna (localized first step)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (addressed as ‘priye’)
Scene: Viṣṇu as Viśvarūpa/Trivikrama: one foot planted at the localized tirtha, the second poised on Meru’s summit, the third extending into the sky; the Goddess addressed as ‘priye’ frames the narration as intimate yet cosmic.
FAQs
The Lord’s cosmic sovereignty is shown through the three strides, making His ‘footprint’ a sacred focus for devotion and pilgrimage.
The narrative supports the sanctity of Viṣṇu’s footprint tradition within Prabhāsakṣetra, later connected with Puṣkara and the Viṣṇupadī Gaṅgā in this chapter.
No direct rite is prescribed in this verse; it sets the mythic basis for later instructions on snāna and darśana.