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
சுகன் கூறினான்—“தூரத்திலிருந்து காணப்படும் அந்த பிப்பல (அச்வத்த) மரம், சமீ மரத்தின் கருவில் நின்றுள்ளது. தேவர்களில் சிறந்தவர்களே! அந்த அச்வத்தத்திலேயே அக்னி (வஹ்னி) உறைகிறான்.”
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.