Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 2
व्यास उवाच । शृणु पार्थ महापुण्यां कथां स्कंदपुराणजाम् । स्थाणुनोक्तां च स्कंदाय धर्मारण्योद्भवां शुभाम्
vyāsa uvāca | śṛṇu pārtha mahāpuṇyāṃ kathāṃ skaṃdapurāṇajām | sthāṇunoktāṃ ca skaṃdāya dharmāraṇyodbhavāṃ śubhām
ਵਿਆਸ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ: ਹੇ ਪਾਰਥ! ਸੁਣ, ਸਕੰਦ ਪੁਰਾਣ ਤੋਂ ਉਤਪੰਨ ਇਹ ਮਹਾ-ਪੁੰਨ ਕਥਾ। ਇਹ ਧਰਮਾਰਣ੍ਯ ਵਿੱਚ ਪ੍ਰਗਟ ਹੋਈ ਸ਼ੁਭ ਕਥਾ ਹੈ, ਜੋ ਸਥਾਣੁ (ਸ਼ਿਵ) ਨੇ ਸਕੰਦ ਨੂੰ ਕਹੀ ਸੀ।
Vyāsa
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pārtha (addressed) / Yudhiṣṭhira (frame listener)
Scene: Vyāsa, composed and authoritative, gestures as if opening a sacred discourse; behind him, a faint visionary overlay suggests Śiva (Sthāṇu) instructing Skanda, indicating the lineage of the story; Dharmāraṇya’s forest sanctity subtly present.
FAQs
Purāṇic māhātmyas are powerful conveyors of puṇya, especially when they transmit Śiva’s teaching lineage to Skanda.
Dharmāraṇya, identified as the auspicious setting/source of the narrative.
No explicit rite is stated; the instruction is to hear (śṛṇu) the sacred account.