Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17
मरीचिरत्रि पुलहः पुलस्त्यः क्रतुरंगिराः । वसिष्ठः कश्यपश्चाहं विभांडो मांडवीसुतः
marīciratri pulahaḥ pulastyaḥ kraturaṃgirāḥ | vasiṣṭhaḥ kaśyapaścāhaṃ vibhāṃḍo māṃḍavīsutaḥ
മരീചി, അത്രി, പുലഹ, പുലസ്ത്യ, ക്രതു, അങ്ഗിരസ്; വസിഷ്ഠൻ, കശ്യപൻ, ഞാനും—മാണ്ടവീസുതൻ വിഭാണ്ഡനോടുകൂടെ—എല്ലാവരും അവിടെ സന്നിഹിതരായിരുന്നു।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya; verse lists sages as attendees)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Other sages / audience within the narrative frame
Scene: A solemn gathering of great sages seated in a semi-circle, matted locks and bark garments, some with kamandalu and darbha; the sacred city’s aura behind them; the narrator-sage includes himself among the attendees.
FAQs
The presence of the foremost ṛṣis functions as scriptural endorsement: Kāśī is validated as a supreme dharma-field by the highest spiritual authorities.
Kāśī, implicitly as the gathering place of the greatest sages.
None stated; the verse is a roll-call establishing the sanctity of the occasion.