Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 23
हृदिस्थं देव जानामि गतं तद्वेदगर्जनात् । वेदानुच्चरतो मेऽद्य तव शङ्कर चाग्रतः
hṛdisthaṃ deva jānāmi gataṃ tadvedagarjanāt | vedānuccarato me'dya tava śaṅkara cāgrataḥ
ഹേ ദേവാ! വേദഗർജനത്താൽ എന്റെ ഹൃദയത്തിൽ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നതു നീങ്ങി പോയെന്നു ഞാൻ അറിയുന്നു. ഇന്ന് വേദോച്ചാരണം ചെയ്യാൻ കഴിയാതെ, ഹേ ശങ്കരാ, ഞാൻ നിന്റെ സന്നിധിയിൽ നിൽക്കുന്നു.
Brahmā (deduced, addressing Śiva as Śaṅkara)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tirtha-cycle (contextual)
Type: river
Scene: A supplicant (likely Brahmā or a Vedic personification) stands before Śaṅkara, hands folded, expressing that the Vedas once seated in his heart have departed amid a thunderous Vedic roar; the atmosphere is solemn and confessional.
FAQs
The verse stresses that Vedic recitation is not mere sound but a bearer of inner spiritual capacity; its absence is experienced as loss and helplessness before the Divine.
No tīrtha is named in this specific verse; it remains within the Revā Khaṇḍa narrative setting.
Veda-ucchāraṇa (proper recitation) is implied as essential, though no detailed procedure is given.