Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 38
पुण्याहे वाच्यमाने च पठत्सु च महात्मसु । अभिधावंति श्रूयंते न चादृश्यत कश्चन
puṇyāhe vācyamāne ca paṭhatsu ca mahātmasu | abhidhāvaṃti śrūyaṃte na cādṛśyata kaścana
പുണ്യാഹവാചനം നടക്കുകയും മഹാത്മാക്കൾ ശാസ്ത്രപാരായണം ചെയ്യുകയും ചെയ്തിരുന്നിട്ടും ഓടിച്ചാടുന്ന ശബ്ദം കേൾക്കപ്പെട്ടു; എന്നാൽ ആരെയും കാണാനായില്ല.
Unspecified (narrative voice within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya; likely Sūta)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A ritual assembly: priests recite, ‘puṇyāha’ is proclaimed; yet the sound of hurried footsteps and running swirls through the space though no bodies are visible—only fluttering cloth, disturbed dust, and startled faces.
FAQs
Ritual words alone are not a shield when destiny ripens; inner purity and dharmic life must accompany sacred recitation.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra, where even rites occur amid extraordinary portents, underscoring the gravity of the sacred narrative.
Puṇyāha (auspicious benediction/proclamation) and scriptural recitation are referenced as ongoing practices.