Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
पिबन्गौरीकथाख्यानं विशेषगुणपूरितम् । कथं महेश्वरो नृत्यं चकार सुरसंवृतः
pibangaurīkathākhyānaṃ viśeṣaguṇapūritam | kathaṃ maheśvaro nṛtyaṃ cakāra surasaṃvṛtaḥ
विशेष गुणांनी परिपूर्ण अशी गौरीकथा जणू पित असल्याप्रमाणे ऐकताना, देवांनी वेढलेला महेश्वर कसा नृत्य करू लागला?
Unspecified in snippet (questioner continuing the inquiry)
Listener: Śūdra (questioner)
Scene: A celestial assembly: Maheśvara in dynamic dance posture (tāṇḍava), surrounded by devas with folded hands and instruments; the narrative ‘drink’ motif shown as the listener absorbed in Gaurī’s virtues.
FAQs
Kathā-śravaṇa is transformative: divine narrative is portrayed as so potent that it moves even the Lord to ecstatic expression.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a lead-in within the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative.
No formal ritual is stated; the implied practice is devoted listening to sacred kathā.