गालव उवाच । इतिहासमिमं पुण्यं कथयामि तवानघ । शृणुष्वावहितो भूत्वा यज्ञायुतफलप्रदम्
gālava uvāca | itihāsamimaṃ puṇyaṃ kathayāmi tavānagha | śṛṇuṣvāvahito bhūtvā yajñāyutaphalapradam
गालव उवाच—अनघ, तवायं पुण्य इतिहासः कथ्यते। आवहितो भूत्वा शृणु; यज्ञायुतफलप्रदः॥
Gālava
Listener: Anagha (epithet for the listener: ‘sinless one’)
Scene: Gālava formally begins: ‘Gālava uvāca’—a poised sage promising a holy legend that grants the fruit of ten thousand sacrifices; the listener sits in reverent attention.
Attentive listening to sacred history is itself a high-yield spiritual act, equated here with immense sacrificial merit.
This verse glorifies the act of hearing the māhātmya/itihāsa; the specific tīrtha is expected in the subsequent narration.
Śravaṇa (devout listening) is prescribed—‘listen attentively’—and is praised as yielding yajña-like fruit.
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