Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 1
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । निर्दग्धेऽस्मिंस्ततो लोके सूर्यैरीश्वरसम्भवैः । सप्तभिश्चार्णवैः शुष्कैर्द्वीपैः सप्तभिरेव च
śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca | nirdagdhe'smiṃstato loke sūryairīśvarasambhavaiḥ | saptabhiścārṇavaiḥ śuṣkairdvīpaiḥ saptabhireva ca
ശ്രീ മാർക്കണ്ഡേയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഈ ലോകം ഈശ്വരസംബവമായ സൂര്യന്മാർകൊണ്ട് ദഗ്ധമായി, ഏഴ് സമുദ്രങ്ങളും ഏഴ് ദ്വീപുകളും വറ്റിപ്പോയപ്പോൾ।
Śrī Markaṇḍeya
Listener: Kingly interlocutor (continuation from prior address)
Scene: A scorched, emptied cosmos: multiple blazing suns in the sky; oceans reduced to cracked basins; the seven dvīpa-s shown as concentric land-rings, all desiccated—an austere cosmic diagram turned into narrative art.
FAQs
All created realms—even the vast cosmic structures—are impermanent; only devotion to the Lord and refuge in dharma endure beyond dissolution.
The broader context is the Revā (Narmadā) Māhātmya, though this verse itself focuses on pralaya cosmology rather than a single tīrtha spot.
None is prescribed here; it sets the cosmological backdrop for understanding the exceptional merit of sacred tīrthas like Revā.