Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 23
उद्गातुः समये तस्य शंकोश्चैव विपर्यये । तदा तु स त्वया वाच्यो ह्यस्थाने शंकुराहितः । सर्वदेवसभा मध्ये तदा मोक्षो भविष्यति
udgātuḥ samaye tasya śaṃkoścaiva viparyaye | tadā tu sa tvayā vācyo hyasthāne śaṃkurāhitaḥ | sarvadevasabhā madhye tadā mokṣo bhaviṣyati
«Au moment fixé pour l’udgātṛ (le chantre du Sāma-Véda), et lorsque Śaṅku agira à l’encontre de l’ordre juste, tu devras déclarer : “Le śaṅku, le pieu, a été planté au mauvais endroit.” Au milieu de l’assemblée de tous les dieux, alors la délivrance adviendra.»
Unspecified in snippet (prophetic/ritual instruction within narrative)
Tirtha: Yajña-vedi of the kṣetra (unnamed here)
Type: kund
Scene: During the yajña, at the udgātṛ’s appointed moment, Śaṅku is wrongly placed; the protagonist declares before the assembled gods that the stake is set in the wrong place—triggering liberation in the divine assembly.
FAQs
Ritual order (yajña-vidhi) is portrayed as spiritually consequential; truthful correction within sacred proceedings becomes a cause leading to mokṣa.
The verse is tied to a kṣetra-based yajña narrative, but the tīrtha name is not stated in this śloka.
A precise instruction: at the udgātṛ’s time, one must announce that the ritual śaṅku (stake) has been placed ‘asthāne’ (in the wrong location).