Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14
अहंपूर्वमहंपूर्वं प्रविशामि महामखे । इत्यौत्सुक्यसमोपेतास्ता गच्छंति तदा पथि
ahaṃpūrvamahaṃpūrvaṃ praviśāmi mahāmakhe | ityautsukyasamopetāstā gacchaṃti tadā pathi
„Ich zuerst! Ich zuerst werde in das große Opfer eintreten!“—so, von eifriger Erwartung erfüllt, zogen sie damals den Weg entlang.
Narrative voice (contextual Purāṇic narration; likely Sūta continuing the account)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A road leading to a grand sacrificial arena with banners; celestial women stride forward animatedly, gesturing ‘I first’; dust rises under their feet; the central woman lags slightly, conflicted.
FAQs
Eagerness for sacred participation is praised, but it should be guided by humility and right order (maryādā).
The episode is situated in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya within Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
No explicit prescription; it portrays the impulse to enter the yajña and the movement of the attendants along the path.