Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 2
मृग्युवाच । शृणु देव प्रवक्ष्यामि यद्वृत्तं कन्यके वने । ऋषिरुद्दालकोनाम गंगाकूले महातपाः
mṛgyuvāca | śṛṇu deva pravakṣyāmi yadvṛttaṃ kanyake vane | ṛṣiruddālakonāma gaṃgākūle mahātapāḥ
Perempuan-rusa itu berkata: “Dengarlah, wahai Raja; akan aku ceritakan apa yang berlaku di hutan Kanyaka. Di tebing Sungai Gaṅgā ada seorang resi pertapa agung bernama Uddālaka.”
Mṛgī (doe / woman born from a doe)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā-kūla (within Kanyaka-vana narrative frame)
Type: river
Listener: Rājā
Scene: The doe-woman begins her tale: a serene Ganga bank with an austere sage Uddālaka in a hermitage; Kanyaka forest surrounds with flowering groves.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma ties personal destiny to sacred landscapes—forests, riverbanks, and sages’ tapas become causes in the moral narrative.
Gaṅgā-kūla is invoked as a sanctified setting; the broader frame remains Vastrāpatha-kṣetra māhātmya.
None; the verse introduces a sage renowned for tapas, implying ascetic discipline rather than prescribing a rite.