In a Bhagavad-gita lecture, Shrila Prabhupada once said, "There are eighteen Puranas. Shrila Prabhupada frequently explained that, of the eighteen Puranas, six are meant for those in the mode of ignorance, six are meant for those in the mode of ignorance. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhagavatam." Thus the total number of verses in all the Puranas is four hundred thousand. The Varaha Purana contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purana Eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vamana Purana ten thousand, he Kurma Purana seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purana fourteen thousand, the Garuda Purana nineteen thousand and the Brahmanda Purana twelve thousand. The Narada Purana has twenty-five thousand verses, the Markandeya Purana nine thousand, the Agani Purana fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhavisya Purana fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purana eighteen thousand the Linga Purana eleven thousand. Of all the Puranas, the Skanda Purana is by far the largest, as explained in the Shrimad-Bhagavatam (12.13.4-9): "The Brahama Purana consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purana of fifty-five thousand, Sri Visnu Purana of twenty-three thousand, the Siva Purana of twenty-four thousand and Srimad-Bhagavatam of eighteen thousand.
The Skanda Purana is one of the eighteen major Puranas, as stated in the Shrimad-Bhagavatam (12.7.23.-24): "The eighteen major Puranas are the Brahama, Padma, Visnu, Siva, Linga, Garuda, Narada, Bhagavata, Agani, Skanda, Bhavisya, Brahama-vaivarta, Markandeya, Vamana, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma and Brahamanda Puranas." "By scrutinizingly reviewing all the revealed scriptures and judging them again and again, it is now concluded that Lord Narayana is the Supreme Absolute Truth, and thus He alone should be worshiped." In a prabhupada to Shrimad-Bhagavatam (2.9.36), Srila Prabhupada wrote: "Srila Jiva Gosvami also quotes another common passage, which is found in three Puranas, namely the Padma Purana, Skanda Purana, Skanda Purana and Linga Purana. The great acharyas, frequently quoted important verses from the Skand Purana.
The Skanda Purana is one of the eighteen major Puranas, as stated in the Shirmad-Bhagavatam (12.7.23-24): "The eighteen major Punaras are the Brahama, Padma, Visnu, Siva, Linga, Garuda, Narada, Bhagavata, Agni, Skanda, Bhavisya, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Vamana, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma and Brahmanda Puranas." Of all the Puranas, the Skanda Purana is by far the largest, as explained in the Shrimad-Bhagavatam (12.13.4-9), containing eighty-one thousand one hundred verses. Siva gave him a powerful lance, vel, as a weapon: a rooster for his insignia: and a peacock for his vehicle, his vahana. He was given many names: Skanda, the energetic emission Gangeya, the son of Ganga: and Kartik, the son of the Krittika maidens. The sight of this extraordinary child filled the god with awe. When the fire died out, six wondering nymphs called the Kritikkas, found the baby.
In great blaze, Siva's energy transformed into a child, a buy with six beads and twelve arms. The terrible heat thus generated, set fire to the reeds on the river banks. He cast it into river Ganga, causing its cool waters to boil. But Agni, the fire god, could not bear its radiance for long. Siva cast his spiritual energies into a fire.