Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 7
सूत उवाच । पूर्वं स्वायंभुवस्यादौ मनोर्दैत्यो महाबलः । हिरण्याक्षो महातेजास्तपोवीर्यसमन्वितः
sūta uvāca | pūrvaṃ svāyaṃbhuvasyādau manordaityo mahābalaḥ | hiraṇyākṣo mahātejāstapovīryasamanvitaḥ
Sūta dit : « Jadis, au commencement du Svāyambhuva (Manvantara), il y eut un Daitya de Manu, d’une grande puissance : Hiraṇyākṣa, rayonnant, pourvu de la force née de l’austérité. »
Sūta
Listener: Ṛṣayaḥ
Scene: Sūta begins the ancient tale: at the dawn of Svāyambhuva Manvantara, the mighty daitya Hiraṇyākṣa appears, radiant with tapas-born power.
FAQs
Austerity (tapas) grants power, but without dharma it can empower forces that disturb cosmic and social order.
This verse sets the mythic background; the tīrtha focus emerges in the surrounding passage (notably Gaṅgādvāra later in the narrative).
No direct ritual is prescribed; tapas is referenced as a source of potency, framing the moral contrast between power and righteousness.