Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22
प्रणनाम मुदायुक्तः क्षितिविन्यस्तमस्तकः । स ऋषिस्तं हृषीकेशमग्निबिंदुर्महातपाः
praṇanāma mudāyuktaḥ kṣitivinyastamastakaḥ | sa ṛṣistaṃ hṛṣīkeśamagnibiṃdurmahātapāḥ
मुदायुक्तः स ऋषिः क्षितौ विन्यस्तमस्तकः प्रणनाम। स महातपाः अग्निबिन्दुः हृषीकेशं—इन्द्रियाणां स्वामिनं—भक्त्या नमस्कृतवान्।
Narrator (contextual)
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (chapter frame)
Scene: Agnibiṃdu, matted hair and ascetic marks, bows with his forehead touching the ground before a serene Hṛṣīkeśa; the setting suggests a riverside sacred precinct.
FAQs
True devotion expresses itself through humility—praṇāma (prostration) and heartfelt joy before the Divine.
The Kāśī setting is implied; the Pañcanadā vicinity becomes explicit in subsequent verses.
Prostration (praṇāma) is exemplified as a devotional act, though no formal vow or donation is prescribed.