Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2
पैजवन उवाच । शालिग्रामशिलायां च जगदादिः सनातनः । कथं पाषाणतां प्राप्तो गण्डक्यां तच्च मे वद । त्वत्प्रसादेन विप्रर्षे हरौ भक्तिर्दृढा भवेत् । भवंतस्तीर्थरूपा हि दर्शनात्पापहारिणः
paijavana uvāca | śāligrāmaśilāyāṃ ca jagadādiḥ sanātanaḥ | kathaṃ pāṣāṇatāṃ prāpto gaṇḍakyāṃ tacca me vada | tvatprasādena viprarṣe harau bhaktirdṛḍhā bhavet | bhavaṃtastīrtharūpā hi darśanātpāpahāriṇaḥ
Paijavana disse: «Na pedra Śāligrāma está presente o Senhor do universo, primordial e eterno. Como Ele alcançou a condição de pedra no rio Gaṇḍakī? Dize-me isso. Pela tua graça, ó o melhor dos brāhmaṇas, que a devoção a Hari se torne firme. Pois vós sois, de fato, tīrthas vivos: só de vos ver, os pecados são destruídos».
Paijavana
Tirtha: Gaṇḍakī–Śāligrāma-kṣetra (source-region of Śāligrāma)
Type: river
Listener: Gālava
Scene: A king (Paijavana) with folded hands questions sage Gālava beside a flowing river; in the foreground, dark, rounded Śāligrāma stones with cakra-like markings rest on a cloth; the river Gaṇḍakī glints behind, suggesting sanctity and mystery.
FAQs
True inquiry into sacred icons (Śāligrāma) should be paired with humility and a longing for firm devotion to Hari.
The Gaṇḍakī river is highlighted as the locus where Śāligrāma manifests, within the wider Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya setting.
Implicitly, reverence to saints (darśana) and Śāligrāma-centered devotion; the verse frames a request for the origin account that grounds proper worship.