Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 3
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । पुरा कल्पे नृपश्रेष्ठ ऋषिदेवसमागमे । प्रश्नः पृष्टो मया तात यथा त्वमनुपृच्छसि
śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca | purā kalpe nṛpaśreṣṭha ṛṣidevasamāgame | praśnaḥ pṛṣṭo mayā tāta yathā tvamanupṛcchasi
Thánh Mārkaṇḍeya nói: Hỡi bậc vương giả tối thượng, thuở một kiếp xưa, trong hội chúng các ṛṣi và chư thiên, hỡi hiền nhi, chính ta đã hỏi đúng câu ấy—như ngươi nay đang hỏi.
Mārkaṇḍeya
Listener: nṛpaśreṣṭha (a king; likely the immediate interlocutor of the Revā Khaṇḍa narrative)
Scene: Mārkaṇḍeya, serene and aged, speaks in a luminous assembly where sages and devas sit in concentric rows; a king listens with folded hands as the question is recalled from a former kalpa.
FAQs
Sacred teachings are transmitted through venerable lineages of inquiry and revelation; sincere questioning is part of dharma.
The verse introduces the backstory for Asmāhaka’s māhātmya but does not yet describe the site’s features.
None directly; it sets up an authoritative narrative source for the forthcoming tīrtha teaching.