Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 2
गणावूचतुः । आकर्णय महाभाग संयमिन्याः पुरीं पराम् । दिक्पतेर्निरृतस्यासौ पुण्यापुण्यजनोषिता
gaṇāvūcatuḥ | ākarṇaya mahābhāga saṃyaminyāḥ purīṃ parām | dikpaternirṛtasyāsau puṇyāpuṇyajanoṣitā
Các Gaṇa thưa rằng: “Hỡi bậc đại phúc, xin lắng nghe về thành tối thượng Saṃyaminī, thuộc về Nirṛta—chúa tể một phương—nơi có cả người thiện lẫn kẻ ác cùng cư trú.”
Gaṇas (attendants of Śiva)
Tirtha: Saṃyaminī-purī (as narrative locus)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mahābhāga (unnamed fortunate interlocutor in context)
Scene: A band of Śiva’s gaṇas addressing a fortunate listener, gesturing toward a shadowed southwestern city marked by Nirṛti’s emblem; within, diverse inhabitants—some radiant with restraint, others dark with vice—move through ordered streets.
FAQs
Puranic geography mirrors moral causality: realms and rulership are structured, and beings experience mixed outcomes according to merit and demerit.
No earthly tīrtha is praised in this verse; it describes Saṃyaminī, a cosmographic city associated with Nirṛta.
None; it introduces a description of a realm and its inhabitants.