Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 10
चैत्रशुक्लतृतीयायां मध्याह्ने द्विजसत्तमाः । नक्षत्रे यमदैवत्ये मार्तंडस्य च वासरे
caitraśuklatṛtīyāyāṃ madhyāhne dvijasattamāḥ | nakṣatre yamadaivatye mārtaṃḍasya ca vāsare
হে দ্বিজশ্রেষ্ঠগণ! চৈত্রের শুক্লপক্ষের তৃতীয় তিথিতে মধ্যাহ্নে—যম-দৈবত্য নক্ষত্রে—এবং মার্তণ্ড (সূর্য) বারে তা ঘটেছিল।
Narrator (purāṇic narrator within Tīrthamāhātmya context; exact speaker not explicit in snippet)
Type: kund
Listener: dvija-sattamāḥ (best of twice-born)
Scene: A luminous midday scene over a sacred waterbody; priests/learned brāhmaṇas note the calendar; the sun stands high; subtle zodiacal/astral motifs hover as symbolic emblems of tithi and nakṣatra.
FAQs
It teaches that tīrtha-related merit is intensified when performed at a specifically sanctified conjunction of tithi, weekday, and nakṣatra.
The verse sets the auspicious time for a tīrtha episode in Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; the exact tīrtha name is implied by the surrounding chapter context rather than stated in this line.
A precise auspicious time is indicated (Caitra śukla tṛtīyā, midday, Yama-associated nakṣatra, Sunday), typically used to frame snāna or tīrtha observances.