Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 84
पञ्चाङ्गानि पुराणस्य चाख्यानमितरत्स्मृतम् । सर्गश्च प्रतिसर्गश्च वंशो मन्वन्तराणि च । वंशानुवंशचरितं पुराणं पञ्चलक्षणम्
pañcāṅgāni purāṇasya cākhyānamitaratsmṛtam | sargaśca pratisargaśca vaṃśo manvantarāṇi ca | vaṃśānuvaṃśacaritaṃ purāṇaṃ pañcalakṣaṇam
പുരാണത്തിന് അഞ്ചു അംശങ്ങളുണ്ട്; ഇതിലുപരി ഉള്ള കഥനം ഉപാഖ്യാനമായി സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. സർഗം, പ്രതിസർഗം, വംശം, മന്വന്തരങ്ങൾ, വംശാനുവംശചരിതം—ഇവയാണ് പുരാണത്തിന്റെ അഞ്ചു ലക്ഷണങ്ങൾ।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages (dvijas)
Scene: A schematic teaching scene: the narrator enumerates the five limbs of a Purāṇa, with symbolic panels showing creation, dissolution/re-creation, royal genealogies, Manus, and dynastic sub-stories.
FAQs
It teaches how Purāṇas preserve sacred memory—cosmic origins and dharmic history—through a structured fivefold framework.
Prabhāsa Kṣetra frames the discourse, but this verse itself defines Purāṇic features rather than praising a particular tīrtha.
None; this is a technical definition of Purāṇic composition.