Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 9
अतस्त्वां परिपृच्छामि धर्मतीर्थाश्रयं कवे । बहूनि सन्ति तीर्थानि बहुशो मे श्रुतानि च
atastvāṃ paripṛcchāmi dharmatīrthāśrayaṃ kave | bahūni santi tīrthāni bahuśo me śrutāni ca
അതുകൊണ്ട്, ഹേ കവേ, ധർമ്മതീർത്ഥങ്ങളുടെ ആശ്രയമായ നിന്നോട് ഞാൻ ചോദിക്കുന്നു. തീർത്ഥങ്ങൾ അനേകം ഉണ്ട്; അവയെക്കുറിച്ച് ഞാൻ പലവട്ടം ഏറെ കേട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട്।
Śaunaka
Listener: Śaunaka
Scene: Śaunaka leaning forward in inquiry, gesturing toward an imagined map of many sacred places; Sūta poised to begin a systematic account; surrounding sages attentive, suggesting the start of a pilgrimage-catalogue narrative.
FAQs
Pilgrimage knowledge should be sought from dharmic authorities; inquiry is itself a dharma when done with reverence.
No single tīrtha yet; the verse introduces a broader inquiry into sacred geography that will culminate in Revā’s praise.
None explicit; it establishes the method—paripraśna (earnest questioning) as the gateway to tīrtha-dharma.