Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 26
चतुर्दशमनूनां वा मूलवासरं वेत्ति कः । कस्मिंश्चैव दिने प्राप पूर्वं वा भास्करो रथम्
caturdaśamanūnāṃ vā mūlavāsaraṃ vetti kaḥ | kasmiṃścaiva dine prāpa pūrvaṃ vā bhāskaro ratham
Qui peut connaître en vérité le jour primordial des quatorze Manu ? Ou bien, quel jour le Soleil obtint-il pour la première fois son char ?
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa), contextual attribution within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narration
Scene: A cosmic tableau: fourteen Manu-figures as faint silhouettes along a timeline; above, Sūrya in a radiant chariot with seven horses, emerging at dawn; a sage points, indicating the unknowable ‘first day’.
FAQs
It highlights the limits of ordinary knowledge before cosmic beginnings, turning the seeker toward humility and sacred inquiry.
No tirtha is named in this verse; it sets a reflective tone within the broader Mahātmya-style narrative.
None is stated here; the verse is framed as a rhetorical cosmological question.