Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 5
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । भारभूतिसमुत्पत्तिं शृणु पाण्डवसत्तम । विस्तरेण यथा प्रोक्ता पुरा देवेन शम्भुना
śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca | bhārabhūtisamutpattiṃ śṛṇu pāṇḍavasattama | vistareṇa yathā proktā purā devena śambhunā
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya bersabda: “Wahai yang terbaik antara para Pāṇḍava, dengarkan asal-usul Bhārabhūti, sebagaimana dahulu kala Dewa Śambhu sendiri telah menghuraikannya dengan terperinci.”
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tirtha-region (contextual)
Type: river
Listener: Pāṇḍava-sattama (a foremost Pāṇḍava)
Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya, serene and aged, begins a sacred narration to a Pāṇḍava hero; the presence of Śambhu is implied as the original divine source of the account, with a subtle Śiva-liṅga or crescent-moon motif in the background.
FAQs
Tīrtha-māhātmya is authoritative when grounded in divine revelation; hearing such accounts is a purifying practice.
Bhārabhūti Tīrtha, whose ‘samutpatti’ (origin) is about to be narrated.
Śravaṇa (devout listening) is implicitly prescribed: ‘śṛṇu’—listen attentively to the sacred account.