Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
ततस्ते नागरा बाह्यास्तां त्यक्त्वा दूरतः स्थिताः । कांदिशीकास्ततो याता भक्ष्यमाणास्तु राक्षसैः । नर्मदायास्तटे पुण्ये मार्कण्डाश्रमसंनिधौ
tataste nāgarā bāhyāstāṃ tyaktvā dūrataḥ sthitāḥ | kāṃdiśīkāstato yātā bhakṣyamāṇāstu rākṣasaiḥ | narmadāyāstaṭe puṇye mārkaṇḍāśramasaṃnidhau
Then those Outer Nāgaras abandoned that place and stayed far away. From there they went toward Kāṃdiśī, being preyed upon by rākṣasas, until they reached the holy bank of the Narmadā, near the hermitage of Mārkaṇḍeya.
Sūta (contextual continuation)
Tirtha: Narmadā-taṭa (near Mārkaṇḍeya-āśrama)
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly
Scene: A frightened community of ‘Outer Nāgaras’ moving in a caravan, looking back as shadowy rākṣasas stalk them; the scene resolves into dawn light at the Narmadā bank with a serene hermitage nearby.
FAQs
When a sacred environment becomes hostile through adharma, seekers move toward safer tīrthas and saintly āśramas, where dharma is protected.
The holy bank of the Narmadā, especially the area near Mārkaṇḍeya’s āśrama.
No explicit rite is prescribed; the emphasis is on seeking refuge in a sanctified landscape (Narmadā-tīra and ṛṣi-āśrama).
Read Skanda Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.