Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 45
कथिता पृच्छ्यते या ते मा ते भवतु विस्मयः । एषा गंगा महापुण्या त्रिषु लोकेषु विश्रुता
kathitā pṛcchyate yā te mā te bhavatu vismayaḥ | eṣā gaṃgā mahāpuṇyā triṣu lokeṣu viśrutā
വിവരിച്ചിട്ടും നീ വീണ്ടും ചോദിക്കുന്നു—അതിൽ അത്ഭുതപ്പെടേണ്ട. ഇവൾ ഗംഗ; മഹാപുണ്യവതി; മൂന്നു ലോകങ്ങളിലും വിശ്രുതയാണ്।
Sūta (addressing the listener in the frame narrative)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (as archetypal identity applied here)
Type: river
Listener: A questioning sage/interlocutor
Scene: A narrator reassures the listener: ‘This is Gaṅgā’—the river shines with a celestial aura; three-world symbolism appears (heaven, earth, netherworld) acknowledging her renown.
FAQs
Repeated inquiry into sacred matters is welcomed; the holiness of Gaṅgā is affirmed as universally established.
Gaṅgā as a tīrtha-river, famed across the three worlds.
None explicitly; the verse is identificatory and laudatory.