Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 46
सर्वपापहरः पुण्यः श्रुतमात्रो नरोत्तम । धन्यः पापहरो नित्यमित्येवं शङ्करोऽब्रवीत्
sarvapāpaharaḥ puṇyaḥ śrutamātro narottama | dhanyaḥ pāpaharo nityamityevaṃ śaṅkaro'bravīt
یہ نہایت مقدّس ہے اور تمام گناہوں کو دور کرنے والا ہے؛ اے بہترین انسان، محض اس کا ذکر سن لینے سے بھی گناہ مٹ جاتے ہیں۔ یہ بابرکت ہے، ہمیشہ گناہ کا ناس کرتا ہے—یوں شَنکر (شیو) نے فرمایا۔
Mārkaṇḍeya (narrating), quoting Śaṅkara (Śiva) as the original speaker
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) Māhātmya locus
Type: river
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira (and/or the inquiring king addressed as nara-uttama)
Scene: Śiva (Śaṅkara) speaks a boon-like proclamation: the sacred account is ‘all-sin-destroying’ even by mere hearing; a reverent audience listens in a forest-āśrama setting.
FAQs
In Purāṇic dharma, even śravaṇa (devout hearing) of a tīrtha’s māhātmya can purify; divine testimony (Śiva’s words) seals its authority.
The tīrtha being praised in the adhyāya—Agni-tīrtha in the Revā Khaṇḍa.
Śravaṇa: hearing the māhātmya itself is presented as a purifying practice.