Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 27
यात्रायां प्रथमं देवि दृष्टो येनार्कभास्करः । तं दृष्ट्वा महिषीं दद्याद्ब्राह्मणाय विपश्चिते
yātrāyāṃ prathamaṃ devi dṛṣṭo yenārkabhāskaraḥ | taṃ dṛṣṭvā mahiṣīṃ dadyādbrāhmaṇāya vipaścite
தேவி, யாத்திரையின் தொடக்கத்திலேயே யார் அர்க்க-பாஸ்கரனாகிய ஒளிமிகு சூரியனைத் தரிசிக்கிறாரோ, அவரைத் தரிசித்த பின் ஞானமிக்க பிராமணருக்கு ஒரு எருமையைத் தானமாக அளிக்க வேண்டும்.
Śiva (addressing Devī/Pārvatī)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Surya-darśana at yātrā-prārambha)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)
Scene: At dawn on the Prabhāsa shore, the pilgrim beholds the rising Sun; immediately afterward, a ceremonial gift of a buffalo is offered to a wise Brāhmaṇa, with witnesses and ritual water-pouring (saṅkalpa).
FAQs
Pilgrimage begins with reverent darśana of Sūrya, and gratitude is expressed through dharmic charity to the learned.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra, presented as a sacred field where Sūrya-darśana and dāna yield merit.
Mahiṣī-dāna—gifting a buffalo to a wise Brāhmaṇa after beholding Sūrya at the start of the yātrā.