Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4
शृणु कांते विचित्रार्थां कथां पापप्रणाशिनीम् । पुण्यशीलसुशीलाभ्यां कथितां शिवशर्मणे
śṛṇu kāṃte vicitrārthāṃ kathāṃ pāpapraṇāśinīm | puṇyaśīlasuśīlābhyāṃ kathitāṃ śivaśarmaṇe
亲爱的，请聆听这意旨奇妙、能灭罪障的故事——由德行具足的福德施罗与苏施罗讲述给湿婆舍摩。
Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-māhātmya (as the larger setting)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lopāmudrā
Scene: Agastya invites Lopāmudrā to listen; the ‘wondrous tale’ is visualized as two luminous figures—Puṇyaśīla and Suśīlā—speaking to Śivaśarmā, like a story unfolding in the air between teacher and student.
FAQs
Purāṇic kathā, when heard with faith, is itself purifying—destroying sin by reorienting the listener toward dharma.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it introduces a sin-destroying narrative within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting.
Śravaṇa (listening) to a pāpa-praṇāśinī kathā is implied as a spiritual practice.