Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 13
एकं तु पुष्करारण्यं नैमिषारण्यमेव च । धर्मारण्यं तृतीयं तु तेषां संकीर्त्यते द्विजाः
ekaṃ tu puṣkarāraṇyaṃ naimiṣāraṇyameva ca | dharmāraṇyaṃ tṛtīyaṃ tu teṣāṃ saṃkīrtyate dvijāḥ
ഹേ ദ്വിജന്മാരേ! ഒന്നാണ് പുഷ്കരാരണ്യം; മറ്റൊന്ന് നൈമിഷാരണ്യം തന്നേ. മൂന്നാമത് ധർമാരണ്യം—ഇവയെന്നു കീർത്തിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു.
Sūta
Tirtha: Puṣkara-āraṇya; Naimiṣa-āraṇya; Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijāḥ
Scene: Sūta lists three sacred forests: Puṣkara, Naimiṣa, and Dharmāraṇya—shown as tranquil groves with hermitages, sacrificial fires, and rishis in study.
FAQs
Forest holy-tracts (āraṇyas) are central to Purāṇic dharma—spaces of tapas, purity, and pilgrimage remembrance.
Puṣkara-āraṇya, Naimiṣāraṇya, and Dharmāraṇya are identified as the three principal āraṇyas in this enumeration.
The verse itself lists the āraṇyas; the implied practice in such contexts is pilgrimage with snāna/darśana and reverential recitation of their names.