Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 2
गणावूचतुः । आकर्णय महाभाग संयमिन्याः पुरीं पराम् । दिक्पतेर्निरृतस्यासौ पुण्यापुण्यजनोषिता
gaṇāvūcatuḥ | ākarṇaya mahābhāga saṃyaminyāḥ purīṃ parām | dikpaternirṛtasyāsau puṇyāpuṇyajanoṣitā
เหล่าคณะคณาได้กล่าวว่า “โอ้ผู้มีบุญยิ่ง จงสดับเถิดถึงนครอันประเสริฐชื่อสังยมินี อันเป็นของนิรฤตะ เจ้าแห่งทิศหนึ่ง ซึ่งมีทั้งผู้มีบุญและผู้มีบาปพำนักอยู่”
Gaṇas (attendants of Śiva)
Tirtha: Saṃyaminī-purī (as narrative locus)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mahābhāga (unnamed fortunate interlocutor in context)
Scene: A band of Śiva’s gaṇas addressing a fortunate listener, gesturing toward a shadowed southwestern city marked by Nirṛti’s emblem; within, diverse inhabitants—some radiant with restraint, others dark with vice—move through ordered streets.
FAQs
Puranic geography mirrors moral causality: realms and rulership are structured, and beings experience mixed outcomes according to merit and demerit.
No earthly tīrtha is praised in this verse; it describes Saṃyaminī, a cosmographic city associated with Nirṛta.
None; it introduces a description of a realm and its inhabitants.