Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3
शूलभेदं कथं जातं केनैवोत्पादितं पुरा । माहात्म्यं तस्य तीर्थस्य विस्तराच्छंस मे प्रभो
śūlabhedaṃ kathaṃ jātaṃ kenaivotpāditaṃ purā | māhātmyaṃ tasya tīrthasya vistarācchaṃsa me prabho
ശൂലഭേദം എങ്ങനെ സംഭവിച്ചു, പണ്ടുകാലത്ത് ആരാണ് അതിനെ സൃഷ്ടിച്ചത്? ഹേ പ്രഭോ, ആ തീർത്ഥത്തിന്റെ മഹാത്മ്യം എനിക്ക് വിശദമായി അരുളിച്ചെയ്യുക।
Unspecified (a listener/devotee addressing Īśvara)
Tirtha: Śūlabheda
Type: tirtha
Listener: Maheśvara (Śiva)
Scene: The king points to or invokes the name Śūlabheda, asking how it came to be; Śiva poised to narrate, with the trident motif subtly foregrounded.
FAQs
A devotee should seek the origin and sacred glory (māhātmya) of tīrthas with humility, because knowing a place’s divine story strengthens faith and right practice.
Śūlabheda-tīrtha, introduced as a sacred ford whose origin and greatness will be explained in the Revā-khaṇḍa context.
None explicitly in this verse; it is a request for the tīrtha’s māhātmya, which typically leads to guidance on snāna, worship, and vows in subsequent verses.