Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 32
सकलं माघमासं च या स्त्री स्नानं समाचरेत् । पुमान्वा प्रातरुत्थाय स प्रयागफलं लभेत्
sakalaṃ māghamāsaṃ ca yā strī snānaṃ samācaret | pumānvā prātarutthāya sa prayāgaphalaṃ labhet
Jede Frau, die während des ganzen Monats Māgha das rituelle Bad vollzieht, und ebenso jeder Mann, der früh aufsteht und badet, erlangt denselben geistlichen Verdienst wie in Prayāga.
Unspecified (Māhātmya narrative voice; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Nāgara-khaṇḍa framing)
Tirtha: Karṇotpalā-tīrtha
Type: kund
Listener: Ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (implied)
Scene: At dawn in Māgha, devotees—women and men—step into a lotus pond, hands joined, offering arghya; pale winter sun, mist over water; a small shrine of Śiva visible nearby.
FAQs
Consistent observance (daily dawn bathing in Māgha) can confer great tīrtha-merit, equated here with Prayāga.
Prayāga is invoked as the benchmark of merit, while the passage occurs within the Karṇotpalā-tīrtha/Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya context.
Māgha-māsa snāna: bathing throughout the entire month, especially after rising at dawn.