Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 32
शुक उवाच । योऽयं संदृश्यते दूराच्छमीगर्भे च पिप्पलः । एतस्मिंस्तिष्ठते वह्निरश्वत्थे सुरसत्तमाः
śuka uvāca | yo'yaṃ saṃdṛśyate dūrācchamīgarbhe ca pippalaḥ | etasmiṃstiṣṭhate vahniraśvatthe surasattamāḥ
Śuka disse: “Aquela árvore pippala (aśvattha) que se vê de longe, e que se ergue no seio de uma śamī—é nesse aśvattha mesmo, ó melhores entre os deuses, que o Fogo (Vahni) habita.”
Śuka
Tirtha: Śamī-garbha-Aśvattha (tree-tīrtha motif)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devas (collectively addressed as surasattamāḥ)
Scene: The parrot points out a distant tree: an aśvattha growing within a śamī, and declares that Agni dwells inside that aśvattha; devas turn their gaze toward the indicated marvel.
FAQs
Divinity may dwell in seemingly ordinary natural forms; sacred geography includes holy trees as living abodes of cosmic powers like Agni.
The verse is within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 90) and frames a local sacred setting marked by the śamī–aśvattha tree and the presence of Agni.
No explicit rite is stated here; it establishes the sacred locus (tree-abode of Agni) that later supports tīrtha-related merit.