Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1
। ओंनमः पुरुषोत्तमाय । अथ स्कान्दे महापुराणे षष्ठनागरखण्डप्रारम्भः । व्यास उवाच । स धूर्जटि जटाजूटो जायतां विजयाय वः । यत्रैकपलितभ्रांतिं करोत्यद्यापि जाह्नवी
| oṃnamaḥ puruṣottamāya | atha skānde mahāpurāṇe ṣaṣṭhanāgarakhaṇḍaprārambhaḥ | vyāsa uvāca | sa dhūrjaṭi jaṭājūṭo jāyatāṃ vijayāya vaḥ | yatraikapalitabhrāṃtiṃ karotyadyāpi jāhnavī
Om—hommage à Puruṣottama. Commence maintenant, dans le Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, la sixième section, le Nāgara-khaṇḍa. Vyāsa dit : Que Dhūrjaṭi, porteur de la chevelure en nattes (jaṭā-jūṭa), soit pour votre victoire ; en sa présence, aujourd’hui encore, la Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) fait naître l’illusion d’un unique cheveu blanc, signe merveilleux.
Vyāsa
Tirtha: Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) in Śiva-sannidhi (conceptual tīrtha-frame)
Type: river
Scene: Opening benediction: Śiva Dhūrjaṭi with towering jaṭā-jūṭa; Gaṅgā as a luminous river-goddess emerging/flowing near his matted locks; a subtle ‘single grey hair’ motif as a shimmering white strand amid dark locks; Vyāsa as narrator with palm-leaf manuscript.
FAQs
A Purāṇic section begins by anchoring itself in auspicious remembrance—honouring both Puruṣottama and Śiva—so the teaching proceeds with spiritual potency.
The verse gestures toward Gaṅgā (Jāhnavī) and a Śiva-associated sacred setting, as an opening marker for the tīrtha-focused Nāgara-khaṇḍa.
No explicit ritual; it functions as maṅgala (invocation) and textual commencement notice.