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
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya nói: “Hỡi Đại vương, ngài càng cất lời, thì lời ta càng hóa thành niềm an lạc. Dẫu thân đã suy nhược vì tuổi già, hỡi người thân yêu, tình bằng hữu của ngài vẫn chẳng hề tiêu mất. Vậy nên, hãy cùng quyến thuộc mà lắng nghe câu chuyện cao quý này, câu chuyện trừ diệt tội lỗi.”
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.