Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
ऋषय ऊचुः । कस्यासौ वटिका तत्र कथं तप्तवती तपः । कस्माद्गृहं परित्यक्त्वा शुकोऽपि वनमाश्रितः
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | kasyāsau vaṭikā tatra kathaṃ taptavatī tapaḥ | kasmādgṛhaṃ parityaktvā śuko'pi vanamāśritaḥ
ഋഷിമാർ പറഞ്ഞു—അവിടെ ആ വടിക ആരുടേതാണ്, അവൾ എങ്ങനെ തപസ്സു ചെയ്തു? പിന്നെ ഏതു കാരണത്താൽ ശുകനും ഗൃഹം ഉപേക്ഷിച്ച് വനത്തിൽ ആശ്രയം തേടി?
Ṛṣis (Sages)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sūta (implied as respondent in the next verse)
Scene: A circle of forest-dwelling sages, seated on kuśa grass near a sacred grove (vaṭikā) with banyan and a small hermitage; they question the storyteller about a woman’s austerity and Śuka’s departure to the forest.
FAQs
Purāṇic teaching advances through inquiry: sincere questions open the way to understanding sacred places, austerity, and renunciation.
The Vaṭikā connected with Vāṭikeśvara in the described sacred region.
No direct prescription; the verse frames questions about tapas and Śuka’s renunciation that the narrative will answer.