Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3
युधिष्ठिर उवाच । अश्वमेधो महायज्ञो बहुसम्भारदक्षिणः । अशक्यः प्राकृतैः कर्तुं कथं तेषां फलं लभेत्
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | aśvamedho mahāyajño bahusambhāradakṣiṇaḥ | aśakyaḥ prākṛtaiḥ kartuṃ kathaṃ teṣāṃ phalaṃ labhet
یُدھشٹھِر نے کہا: ‘اشومیدھ ایک مہایَجْیَ ہے، جس میں بہت سا سامان اور بڑی دَکْشِنا (پجاریانہ نذرانہ) درکار ہوتا ہے؛ عام لوگ اسے انجام نہیں دے سکتے۔ پھر وہ اس کا پھل کیسے پائیں؟’
Yudhiṣṭhira
Listener: Mārkaṇḍeya
Scene: A royal inquirer (Yudhiṣṭhira) respectfully questions a sage about how ordinary people can gain the fruit of the Aśvamedha, emphasizing the grandeur and inaccessibility of the rite.
FAQs
It frames a dharmic problem: how can spiritual merit be accessible when grand rituals are beyond common means?
Not named in this verse; it refers back to the promised merit connected to Daśāśvamedhika Tīrtha.
None directly; it discusses the impracticality of performing the Aśvamedha for ordinary people.