Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 7
ईश्वर उवाच । इल्वलो नाम दैत्येन्द्र आसीद्वै वरवर्णिनि । मणिमत्यां पुरा पुर्यां वातापिस्तस्य चानुजः
īśvara uvāca | ilvalo nāma daityendra āsīdvai varavarṇini | maṇimatyāṃ purā puryāṃ vātāpistasya cānujaḥ
Īśvara bersabda: “Wahai yang jelita, pada zaman dahulu ada seorang raja para daitya bernama Ilvala di kota Maṇimatī; dan Vātāpi ialah adik lelakinya.”
Īśvara (Śiva)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa (contextual frame; not yet in this verse)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pārvatī (implied by vocative varavarṇinī)
Scene: Śiva as narrator addresses a goddess/consort; in the background, a fortified asura-city Maṇimatī with Ilvala enthroned and Vātāpi beside him, hinting at impending conflict with brāhmaṇas.
FAQs
Māhātmya teaching often unfolds through sacred history: naming the forces opposed to dharma before describing their defeat.
The legend is told to explain the sanctity of Agastya’s āśrama region in Prabhāsa kṣetra, though this verse names Maṇimatī as the demons’ city.
None; it begins the narrative background for the tīrtha’s māhātmya.