ऋषय ऊचुः । अत्याश्चर्यमिदं सूत यत्त्वयैतदुदाहृतम् । संगमं सर्वतीर्थानां क्षेत्रे तत्र प्रकीर्तितम्
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | atyāścaryamidaṃ sūta yattvayaitadudāhṛtam | saṃgamaṃ sarvatīrthānāṃ kṣetre tatra prakīrtitam
เหล่าฤๅษีกล่าวว่า: “น่าอัศจรรย์ยิ่งนัก โอ้สุทา ที่ท่านประกาศว่า ณ เกษตรนั้นมีสังฆมแห่งทีรถะทั้งปวงได้รับการสรรเสริญกล่าวขาน”
Ṛṣis (sages) addressing Sūta
Tirtha: Sarva-tīrtha-saṅgama within Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (as proclaimed)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sūta
Scene: A forest-āśrama assembly of ṛṣis addresses Sūta with wonder, gesturing toward an imagined sacred kṣetra described as holding the ‘confluence of all tīrthas’.
Purāṇic sacred geography elevates select kṣetras as universal pilgrimage hubs—‘all tīrthas’ converge there in merit.
The kṣetra being described in this adhyāya—identified in nearby verses as Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra—is praised as the saṅgama of all tīrthas.
None; it is a dialogic response emphasizing the extraordinary claim of sarva-tīrtha confluence.