Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 27
एतस्मिन्नंतरे गोपी काचित्तत्पुरवासिनी । एकपुत्रा भर्तृहीना तत्रैवासीच्चिरंतना
etasminnaṃtare gopī kācittatpuravāsinī | ekaputrā bhartṛhīnā tatraivāsīcciraṃtanā
Unterdessen lebte in eben jener Stadt eine gewisse Kuhhirtin, seit langem dort ansässig; sie war verwitwet und Mutter eines einzigen Sohnes.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating (deduced)
Tirtha: Ujjayinī/Avanti (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A widowed cowherd woman of Ujjayinī, modestly dressed, stands near her dwelling with her only son—an intimate domestic scene amid the larger city crisis.
FAQs
The Purāṇa widens the sacred story beyond kings: even a humble, vulnerable resident becomes central to the unfolding grace of the kṣetra’s deity.
Ujjayinī (Ujjain), the city where Mahākāla’s protective power is narrated through both royal and common lives.
None in this verse; it introduces a devotee-character who will connect the narrative to Mahākāla’s kṣetra-māhātmya.