Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 3
किं करोमि क्व गच्छामि तपसे स्थानमुत्तमम् । यस्य पारं न जानंति देवता मुनयो नराः
kiṃ karomi kva gacchāmi tapase sthānamuttamam | yasya pāraṃ na jānaṃti devatā munayo narāḥ
“เราควรทำสิ่งใด? จะไปที่ไหน—สู่สถานที่บำเพ็ญตบะอันสูงสุด ซึ่งแม้เหล่าเทวะ ฤๅษี และมนุษย์ก็ไม่รู้ที่สุดปลาย?”
Lohāsura (as quoted within Sūta’s narration)
Listener: Ṛṣis (forest-assembly)
Scene: Lohāsura speaks aloud in solitude, palms slightly open in questioning; the cosmos seems vast around him—stars, distant mountains/forests—signifying the ‘unknown limit’ of the tapas-dhāma.
FAQs
True renunciation expresses itself as inquiry: the seeker looks for the highest discipline and the transcendent reality beyond ordinary knowledge.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse emphasizes the search for the ‘uttama sthāna’ for tapas in a general, aspirational sense.
Tapas (austerity) is the implied discipline, though no specific vrata or procedure is detailed here.