Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 4
मार्कण्डेय उवाच । मिथिलास्थो महाभागो वेदवेदाङ्गपारगः । याज्ञवल्क्यः पुरा तात चचार विपुलं तपः
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca | mithilāstho mahābhāgo vedavedāṅgapāragaḥ | yājñavalkyaḥ purā tāta cacāra vipulaṃ tapaḥ
Mārkaṇḍeya berkata: “Wahai anakku, pada zaman dahulu Yājñavalkya yang termasyhur—berdiam di Mithilā serta mahir dalam Veda dan Vedāṅga—telah menjalani tapa yang amat besar.”
Mārkaṇḍeya
Tirtha: Mithilā (contextual kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Unnamed interlocutor
Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya begins narration: a luminous portrait of Yājñavalkya in Mithilā—scholarly yet ascetic—engaged in intense tapas, with Vedic symbols (manuscripts, yajñopavīta) and a serene āśrama setting.
FAQs
Vedic learning is crowned by tapas; spiritual authority is shown through both knowledge and disciplined austerity.
The verse begins the backstory that will culminate in the Pippaleśvara tīrtha’s māhātmya.
Tapas (austerity) is referenced as the defining practice undertaken by Yājñavalkya.