Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 11
वसिष्ठो नाम देवर्षिः पितामहसमुद्भवः । स पूर्वं भूतलं प्राप्तस्तपस्तेपे सुदारुणम्
vasiṣṭho nāma devarṣiḥ pitāmahasamudbhavaḥ | sa pūrvaṃ bhūtalaṃ prāptastapastepe sudāruṇam
May isang banal na devarṣi na nagngangalang Vasiṣṭha, na nagmula sa Pitāmaha (Brahmā). Noong unang panahon ay dumating siya sa lupa at nagsagawa ng napakahigpit na tapasya.
Sūta
Tirtha: Arbuda (contextual; Vasiṣṭha’s tapas as causal backdrop)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dvija-śreṣṭhas/ṛṣis
Scene: The divine sage Vasiṣṭha, radiant and austere, descends to earth; the scene foreshadows a hermitage near a sacred mountain where intense penance will unfold.
FAQs
The foundation of a tīrtha’s glory is often the intense tapas of a great ṛṣi acting for dharma.
The narrative groundwork for Arbuda’s sanctity begins with Vasiṣṭha’s austerities on earth.
Tapas (austerity) is described as Vasiṣṭha’s practice; no lay ritual is prescribed.