Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
स्वागतं ते मुनिश्रेष्ठ भूयः सुस्वागतं मुने । धन्योऽहं कृतपुण्योऽहं संप्राप्तः परमां गतिम् । यत्ते पादरजोभिर्मे मूर्द्धजा विमलीकृताः
svāgataṃ te muniśreṣṭha bhūyaḥ susvāgataṃ mune | dhanyo'haṃ kṛtapuṇyo'haṃ saṃprāptaḥ paramāṃ gatim | yatte pādarajobhirme mūrddhajā vimalīkṛtāḥ
اے مُنیوں کے افضل! آپ کا خیرمقدم ہے—پھر بھی بار بار خوش آمدید، اے مُنی۔ میں مبارک ہوں، میں صاحبِ پُنّیہ ہوں؛ میں نے اعلیٰ ترین منزل پا لی، کیونکہ آپ کے قدموں کی دھول سے میرے سر کے بال پاکیزہ ہو گئے۔
Rohitāśva (addressing Mārkaṇḍeya)
Tirtha: Ayodhyā (Satyānāmikā)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Close focus on the king’s folded hands and bowed head; the sage’s feet near the foreground; a subtle aura suggests purification as the king speaks welcome twice, eyes moist with devotion.
FAQs
Contact with holiness purifies: honoring a realized sage is portrayed as a direct source of puṇya and inner cleansing.
The welcome occurs in Ayodhyā within the Sarayū tīrtha milieu, reinforcing the city’s sanctity as a meeting-ground of sages and dharma.
No formal rite is prescribed; the devotional act of honoring a sage—treating his presence as purifying—is emphasized.