Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच । तथापि देव मे शुद्धिर्हृदयस्य न जायते । तस्माद्वद सुरश्रेष्ठ प्रायश्चित्तं विशुद्धये
yājñavalkya uvāca | tathāpi deva me śuddhirhṛdayasya na jāyate | tasmādvada suraśreṣṭha prāyaścittaṃ viśuddhaye
യാജ്ഞവൽക്ക്യൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ ദേവാ! എന്നിരുന്നാലും എന്റെ ഹൃദയശുദ്ധി ഉദിക്കുന്നില്ല. അതിനാൽ, ഹേ സുരശ്രേഷ്ഠാ, പൂർണ്ണ വിശുദ്ധിക്കായി പ്രായശ്ചിത്തം അരുളിച്ചെയ്യുക.
Yājñavalkya
Type: kshetra
Listener: (contextual) audience
Scene: Sage Yājñavalkya, austere and radiant, speaks with folded hands to a higher divine presence (Brahmā implied by next verse), expressing that his heart is not yet pure and requesting prāyaścitta.
FAQs
Outer acts are incomplete without inner transformation; true dharma seeks citta-śuddhi through right means.
The verse sets up the Tīrthamāhātmya context; the specific kṣetra is elaborated in the following verses of the same adhyāya.
A request is made for prāyaścitta (expiatory discipline); the concrete prescription is given immediately afterward (liṅga-sthāpanā).