Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 27
यात्रायां प्रथमं देवि दृष्टो येनार्कभास्करः । तं दृष्ट्वा महिषीं दद्याद्ब्राह्मणाय विपश्चिते
yātrāyāṃ prathamaṃ devi dṛṣṭo yenārkabhāskaraḥ | taṃ dṛṣṭvā mahiṣīṃ dadyādbrāhmaṇāya vipaścite
हे देवी, यात्रेच्या आरंभी ज्याने अर्क-भास्कर, तेजस्वी सूर्याचे दर्शन घेतले, त्याचे दर्शन करून विद्वान ब्राह्मणाला एक महिषी (म्हैस) दान द्यावी.
Śiva (addressing Devī/Pārvatī)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Surya-darśana at yātrā-prārambha)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)
Scene: At dawn on the Prabhāsa shore, the pilgrim beholds the rising Sun; immediately afterward, a ceremonial gift of a buffalo is offered to a wise Brāhmaṇa, with witnesses and ritual water-pouring (saṅkalpa).
FAQs
Pilgrimage begins with reverent darśana of Sūrya, and gratitude is expressed through dharmic charity to the learned.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra, presented as a sacred field where Sūrya-darśana and dāna yield merit.
Mahiṣī-dāna—gifting a buffalo to a wise Brāhmaṇa after beholding Sūrya at the start of the yātrā.