Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3
शूलभेदं कथं जातं केनैवोत्पादितं पुरा । माहात्म्यं तस्य तीर्थस्य विस्तराच्छंस मे प्रभो
śūlabhedaṃ kathaṃ jātaṃ kenaivotpāditaṃ purā | māhātmyaṃ tasya tīrthasya vistarācchaṃsa me prabho
شُول بھید کیسے پیدا ہوا، اور قدیم زمانے میں کس نے اسے وجود میں لایا؟ اے پروردگار، اس تیرتھ کی عظمت مجھے تفصیل سے بیان فرمائیے۔
Unspecified (a listener/devotee addressing Īśvara)
Tirtha: Śūlabheda
Type: tirtha
Listener: Maheśvara (Śiva)
Scene: The king points to or invokes the name Śūlabheda, asking how it came to be; Śiva poised to narrate, with the trident motif subtly foregrounded.
FAQs
A devotee should seek the origin and sacred glory (māhātmya) of tīrthas with humility, because knowing a place’s divine story strengthens faith and right practice.
Śūlabheda-tīrtha, introduced as a sacred ford whose origin and greatness will be explained in the Revā-khaṇḍa context.
None explicitly in this verse; it is a request for the tīrtha’s māhātmya, which typically leads to guidance on snāna, worship, and vows in subsequent verses.