सूत उवाच । कथयामि कथामेतां शृणुत द्विज सत्तमाः । अस्ति विंध्य इति ख्यातः पर्वतः पृथिवीतले
sūta uvāca | kathayāmi kathāmetāṃ śṛṇuta dvija sattamāḥ | asti viṃdhya iti khyātaḥ parvataḥ pṛthivītale
สูตะกล่าวว่า “เราจักเล่าเรื่องนี้ให้ฟัง—จงสดับเถิด โอ้ท่านผู้ประเสริฐในหมู่ทวิชะทั้งหลาย บนพื้นพิภพมียอดเขาหนึ่งเลื่องชื่อว่า วินธยะ”
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa/Sūta narrator)
Tirtha: Vindhya (setting for the forthcoming tīrtha account)
Type: peak
Listener: dvija-sattamāḥ / ṛṣis
Scene: Sūta, seated in a forest assembly, begins the tale by pointing toward a vast mountain mass—Vindhya—rising across the horizon, establishing the setting.
Sacred history is transmitted through attentive listening (śravaṇa), which becomes a gateway to understanding tīrtha-māhātmya.
The narrative begins with Vindhya mountain, a key sacred landscape connected to later tīrtha significance.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; the instruction is to listen carefully to the purāṇic account.