Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4
देव्युवाच । कथं तु सिद्धो वाल्मीकिः कथं चौर्येऽकरोन्मनः । कथं सप्तर्षयो मुष्टा एतन्मे वद शंकर
devyuvāca | kathaṃ tu siddho vālmīkiḥ kathaṃ caurye'karonmanaḥ | kathaṃ saptarṣayo muṣṭā etanme vada śaṃkara
Dewi berkata: Bagaimanakah Vālmīki mencapai siddhi? Bagaimanakah pula dia menumpukan fikirannya pada perbuatan mencuri? Bagaimanakah Tujuh Ṛṣi itu ditangkap? Katakanlah kepadaku hal ini, wahai Śaṅkara.
Devī (Pārvatī / Mahādevī)
Listener: Śaṅkara (Śiva)
Scene: Devī, attentive and earnest, questions Śaṅkara about Vālmīki’s siddhi, his turn to theft, and the seizing of the Saptarṣis; Śiva poised to narrate a moral-psychological backstory.
FAQs
Even a life marked by wrongdoing can culminate in spiritual perfection through transformation—hence the need to hear sacred histories.
The inquiry pertains to events located at Śūlasthāna on the Devikā river within Prabhāsakṣetra.
None; it initiates the kathā (sacred narrative) explaining the tīrtha’s fame.