Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1
युधिष्ठिर उवाच । नरकाणां स्वरूपं च श्रुत्वा मे भयमागतम् । कथं मुक्तिर्भवेत्तेषां पापानामपि पार्थिव । व्रतैर्वा नियमैर्वापि होमैर्वा तीर्थसंश्रयैः
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | narakāṇāṃ svarūpaṃ ca śrutvā me bhayamāgatam | kathaṃ muktirbhavetteṣāṃ pāpānāmapi pārthiva | vratairvā niyamairvāpi homairvā tīrthasaṃśrayaiḥ
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: Setelah mendengar rupa dan keadaan neraka-neraka, ketakutan datang kepadaku. Wahai raja, bagaimanakah pembebasan dapat dicapai bahkan oleh para pendosa—melalui vrata (nazar suci), melalui niyama (disiplin), melalui homa (persembahan api), atau dengan berlindung pada tīrtha yang suci?
Yudhiṣṭhira
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (implied as the forthcoming locus of remedy)
Type: river
Listener: Bhīṣma
Scene: A solemn dialogue: Yudhiṣṭhira, anxious after hearing of hells, questions Bhīṣma about means of release—vows, disciplines, homa, and refuge in tīrthas.
FAQs
Fear becomes a catalyst for dharma: the right response to hearing about naraka is to seek prāyaścitta—vows, discipline, ritual, and tīrtha-centered purification.
No single site is named in this verse; it introduces the theme of taking refuge in tīrthas within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya setting.
The verse lists categories of remedies—vrata (vows), niyama (disciplines), homa (fire-offerings), and tīrtha-saṃśraya (resort to sacred places)—as the avenues to be explained.