Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 7
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । यथायथा त्वं नृप भाषसे च तथातथा मे सुखमेति भारती । शैथिल्यता वा जरयान्वितस्य त्वत्सौहृदं नश्यति नैव तात । शृणुष्व तस्मात्सह बान्धवैश्च कथामिमां पापहरां प्रशस्ताम्
śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca | yathāyathā tvaṃ nṛpa bhāṣase ca tathātathā me sukhameti bhāratī | śaithilyatā vā jarayānvitasya tvatsauhṛdaṃ naśyati naiva tāta | śṛṇuṣva tasmātsaha bāndhavaiśca kathāmimāṃ pāpaharāṃ praśastām
شری مارکنڈَیَہ نے کہا: اے راجا! جوں جوں تم بولتے ہو، توں توں میری وانی میں سرور اترتا ہے۔ اگرچہ بڑھاپے سے کمزوری آ جائے، اے عزیز، تمہاری دوستی ہرگز فنا نہیں ہوتی۔ اس لیے اپنے رشتہ داروں سمیت اس ستودہ، گناہ ہارک کتھا کو سنو۔
Mārkaṇḍeya
Tirtha: Revā-kathā context (not a single named tīrtha in this verse)
Type: kshetra
Listener: the king addressed as ‘nṛpa’, ‘tāta’, ‘Bhārata’ (contextual)
Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya, aged yet radiant, speaks affectionately to the king; behind them, kinsmen sit in a semicircle, attentive. The sage’s words are depicted as a cleansing stream of light labeled ‘pāpa-harā’.
FAQs
Reverent listening to a praiseworthy Purāṇic narrative is presented as a means of purification (pāpa-haraṇa) and a support for dharma.
This verse functions as a preface; the broader context is the Revā-khaṇḍa, which venerates the sacred geography connected with the river Revā (Narmadā).
No specific rite is prescribed here; the instruction is śravaṇa—listening attentively (ideally with one’s family) to a pāpaharā kathā.