Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38
विभवस्ते महाभाग प्रणश्यति निशाक्षये । एतत्कीर्तय मे गुह्यं न चेत्प्रेतप संस्थितम् । अत्र कौतूहलं जातं दृष्ट्वेदं सुविचेष्टितम्
vibhavaste mahābhāga praṇaśyati niśākṣaye | etatkīrtaya me guhyaṃ na cetpretapa saṃsthitam | atra kautūhalaṃ jātaṃ dṛṣṭvedaṃ suviceṣṭitam
«يا ذا الحظ السعيد، إن بهاءك يضمحلّ عند انقضاء الليل. فأخبرني بهذا السرّ، وإلا ظننتك حقًّا ثابتًا ربًّا للـبريتات. لقد تولّد في نفسي فضول شديد حين رأيت هذه الأعجوبة المحكمة.»
Narrator (contextual; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Purāṇic narration; direct speech by the Śūdra within the narrative)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara (implied)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A seeker addresses a radiant, uncanny preta whose splendor fades at dawn; the seeker, astonished, requests the secret behind the well-ordered marvel.
FAQs
Even extraordinary power is time-bound; seeking the ‘secret’ behind it turns curiosity into spiritual inquiry aligned with dharma.
The verse signals a tīrtha-related secret, but the precise site name is not present within this line alone.
None explicitly; the verse is a request for revelation rather than an injunction.