Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 30
यदा पतिव्रतानां तु कथास्मद्भवने भवेत् । तदा प्राथमिकीं रेखामेषाऽलंकुरुते सती
yadā pativratānāṃ tu kathāsmadbhavane bhavet | tadā prāthamikīṃ rekhāmeṣā'laṃkurute satī
Khi nào trong nhà chúng ta có tụng đọc thánh truyện về các bậc pativratā—những người vợ trọn đạo thủ tiết—thì ngay lúc ấy, vị hiền phụ này trang nghiêm nét mừng lành đầu tiên, đúng với hạnh của người trinh khiết.
Narrator (contextual; within Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue, typically Skanda’s narration to Agastya, but this verse itself is in third-person narrative)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Inside a Kāśī household courtyard, a virtuous woman prepares for a pativratā-kathā: she draws the first auspicious line/mark on the threshold or floor, while elders arrange a seat for recitation and a lamp glows softly.
FAQs
Honoring dharma through reverence for sacred narratives—especially the exemplars of pativratā virtue—purifies domestic life and makes it auspicious.
The larger frame is the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Vārāṇasī/Kāśī māhātmya), though this particular verse highlights household auspiciousness rather than naming a specific tīrtha.
An auspicious ‘first mark/line’ (prāthamikā rekhā) is made/adorned when the pativratā-kathā is recited—indicating a customary rite of sanctifying the occasion.