Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3
इति ते कथितं मया प्रिये कलिपापौघविनाशनं शुभम् । निखिलं तीर्थमहोदयोदयं पठितं सद्विनिहंति पापसंहतिम्
iti te kathitaṃ mayā priye kalipāpaughavināśanaṃ śubham | nikhilaṃ tīrthamahodayodayaṃ paṭhitaṃ sadvinihaṃti pāpasaṃhatim
ഹേ പ്രിയേ, കലിയുഗത്തിലെ പാപപ്രവാഹം നശിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഈ മംഗളകഥ ഞാൻ നിന്നോട് പറഞ്ഞു. തീർത്ഥമഹിമയുടെ ഈ സമഗ്രവിവരണം ആരെല്ലാം പാരായണം ചെയ്യുമോ, അവർ നിശ്ചയമായി സഞ്ചിത പാപസമൂഹത്തെ നശിപ്പിക്കും.
Īśvara (Śiva) [deduced from immediate context continuing into Adhyāya 6: “Īśvara uvāca”]
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (as the māhātmya’s field)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)
Scene: A teacher recites the Prabhāsa tīrtha-māhātmya to attentive listeners; the text is shown as radiant; dark clouds labeled ‘Kali-pāpa’ disperse as sound-waves emanate.
FAQs
Reciting and preserving tīrtha-māhātmya is itself a purifying act that destroys accumulated sin, especially in Kali Yuga.
The verse praises the collective glory of the tīrthas connected with Vastrāpatha/Prabhāsa, as part of the Gaṅgeśvara-focused narrative context.
Pāṭha—reading/recitation of the māhātmya—is presented as the efficacious practice.