Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38
द्यामालेखीति मंत्रं स प्रोच्चार्य विधिपूर्वकम् । छंदर्षिसहितं चैव यावत्क्षिपति मस्तके । तावन्निरीक्षितस्तेन नखलेखाविकर्तितः
dyāmālekhīti maṃtraṃ sa proccārya vidhipūrvakam | chaṃdarṣisahitaṃ caiva yāvatkṣipati mastake | tāvannirīkṣitastena nakhalekhāvikartitaḥ
Nachdem er vorschriftsgemäß das Mantra, beginnend mit «dyāmālekhī…», samt Metrum (chandas) und Seher (ṛṣi) gesprochen hatte, schleuderte er es auf das Haupt des Königs. In eben diesem Augenblick wurde er erkannt—seine Lippe war entstellt, als wäre sie von einem Fingernagelritzer aufgeschnitten.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator)
Scene: The priest recites the ‘dyāmālekhī…’ mantra with its seer and meter, casts the empowered blessing upon the king’s head, and instantly a scratch-like cut appears on the king’s lip, startling onlookers.
FAQs
Mantra is not merely sound; its efficacy is tied to disciplined transmission—recited with its ṛṣi and chandas—and the rite may reveal immediate signs that shape the moral narrative.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it focuses on mantra-vidhi within a Māhātmya storyline.
Reciting a mantra with its chandas and ṛṣi and applying it (casting/sprinkling) upon the head as part of a śāntika procedure.