Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच । तथापि देव मे शुद्धिर्हृदयस्य न जायते । तस्माद्वद सुरश्रेष्ठ प्रायश्चित्तं विशुद्धये
yājñavalkya uvāca | tathāpi deva me śuddhirhṛdayasya na jāyate | tasmādvada suraśreṣṭha prāyaścittaṃ viśuddhaye
Yājñavalkya thưa: “Dẫu vậy, ôi Thiên thần, sự thanh tịnh trong lòng con vẫn chưa khởi lên. Vậy nên, hỡi bậc tối thượng giữa chư thiên, xin chỉ dạy cho con pháp sám hối (prāyaścitta) để được tịnh hóa trọn vẹn.”
Yājñavalkya
Type: kshetra
Listener: (contextual) audience
Scene: Sage Yājñavalkya, austere and radiant, speaks with folded hands to a higher divine presence (Brahmā implied by next verse), expressing that his heart is not yet pure and requesting prāyaścitta.
FAQs
Outer acts are incomplete without inner transformation; true dharma seeks citta-śuddhi through right means.
The verse sets up the Tīrthamāhātmya context; the specific kṣetra is elaborated in the following verses of the same adhyāya.
A request is made for prāyaścitta (expiatory discipline); the concrete prescription is given immediately afterward (liṅga-sthāpanā).