Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 68
एवं विचार्य बहुधा वर्द्धनी नाम भारत । सर्वासामप्सरसां श्रेष्ठा सर्वाभरणभूषिता
evaṃ vicārya bahudhā varddhanī nāma bhārata | sarvāsāmapsarasāṃ śreṣṭhā sarvābharaṇabhūṣitā
ಹೀಗೆ ಅನೇಕ ರೀತಿಯಾಗಿ ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿ, ಹೇ ಭಾರತ, ಅವರು ‘ವರ್ಧನೀ’ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರಿನವಳನ್ನು ಆಯ್ಕೆಮಾಡಿದರು—ಅವಳು ಎಲ್ಲ ಅಪ್ಸರೆಯರಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠೆ, ಸರ್ವಾಭರಣಗಳಿಂದ ಭೂಷಿತೆ।
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta-style narration within Brahmakhaṇḍa)
Listener: Bhārata
Scene: Varddhanī is singled out from among the apsarases—she stands centered, richly adorned, while others form a respectful semicircle, indicating her preeminence and selection.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma emphasizes fitness for duty: the ‘best-suited’ agent is chosen to serve a larger righteous objective.
Not specified in this verse; it continues within the Dharmāraṇya setting.
None; it narrates the choosing of Varddhanī.