Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1
ऋषय ऊचुः । अष्टषष्टिरियं प्रोक्ता या त्वया सूतनन्दन । क्षेत्राणां देवदेवस्य कथं सा तत्र संस्थिता । एतत्सर्वं समाचक्ष्व परं कौतूहलं हि नः
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | aṣṭaṣaṣṭiriyaṃ proktā yā tvayā sūtanandana | kṣetrāṇāṃ devadevasya kathaṃ sā tatra saṃsthitā | etatsarvaṃ samācakṣva paraṃ kautūhalaṃ hi naḥ
ഋഷികൾ പറഞ്ഞു—“ഹേ സൂതനന്ദന! ദേവദേവന്റെ ക്ഷേത്രങ്ങളായ ഈ ‘അറുപത്താറ്’ എന്നു നീ പ്രസ്താവിച്ചു. അവ അവിടെ എങ്ങനെ സ്ഥാപിതമായി? ഇതെല്ലാം വിശദമായി പറയുക; ഞങ്ങൾക്ക് അത്യന്തം കൗതുകമുണ്ട്.”
Ṛṣis
Tirtha: Aṣṭaṣaṣṭi-kṣetra (the ‘sixty-six’ Śaiva sacred fields)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sūtanandana (son of Sūta)
Scene: An assembly of sages seated in a forest hermitage, addressing the storyteller (Sūta’s son) with raised hands in inquiry; behind them, a symbolic map-like backdrop of many kṣetras.
FAQs
Holy geography is to be approached through śravaṇa (listening) and inquiry; curiosity directed toward dharma becomes a path to understanding.
Not one single tīrtha; the verse introduces the wider network of ‘sixty-six kṣetras’ under the God of gods.
None; it is a question initiating doctrinal and geographical exposition.