Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
स्कंद उवाच । नर्मदेशस्य माहात्म्यं कथयामि मुने तव । यस्य स्मरणमात्रेण महापातकसंक्षयः
skaṃda uvāca | narmadeśasya māhātmyaṃ kathayāmi mune tava | yasya smaraṇamātreṇa mahāpātakasaṃkṣayaḥ
സ്കന്ദൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ മുനേ! ഞാൻ നിനക്കു നർമദാ-ദേശത്തിന്റെ മഹാത്മ്യം പറയുന്നു; അതിന്റെ സ്മരണമാത്രം കൊണ്ടുതന്നെ മഹാപാതകങ്ങൾ ക്ഷയിക്കുന്നു.
Skanda
Tirtha: Narmadā
Type: river
Listener: Muni (addressed as ‘muni’; context suggests a sage interlocutor)
Scene: Skanda speaks to a sage, gesturing toward a broad, sacred river landscape: Narmadā flowing between forested banks, ghāṭas with ascetics, and distant hills; the scene emphasizes the power of remembrance—visualized as a luminous aura rising from the river.
FAQs
Sacred geography is spiritually transformative: even remembrance of a holy region like the Narmadā-deśa is said to lessen grave sins.
The Narmadā region (Narmadā-deśa) and, by implication, the Narmadā river’s sacred sphere.
Smaraṇa (remembrance) is praised as efficacious; no detailed vow or rite is specified in this verse.