Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 77
ग्रहाणां भास्करो यद्वन्नक्षत्राणां निशाकरः । तद्वत्स्थानजविप्राणां श्रेष्ठोऽष्टकुलिकः स्मृतः
grahāṇāṃ bhāskaro yadvannakṣatrāṇāṃ niśākaraḥ | tadvatsthānajaviprāṇāṃ śreṣṭho'ṣṭakulikaḥ smṛtaḥ
De même que le Soleil est le chef parmi les planètes et la Lune le chef parmi les astres, ainsi, parmi les brāhmaṇas nés en ce lieu sacré, l’Aṣṭakulika est rappelé comme le plus éminent.
Viśvāmitra (deduced)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A night-to-day diptych: Sun and Moon above a tīrtha-ghāṭa; below, an aṣṭakulika brāhmaṇa stands like a ‘human luminary’ guiding pilgrims with a staff and scripture.
FAQs
Dharma in a tīrtha includes discerning spiritual qualification; selecting the best-suited officiant is portrayed as natural and orderly, like cosmic hierarchies.
The ‘sthāna’ (sacred place) context is praised generally within Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; the verse itself does not name a particular site.
Guidance by implication: for rites performed at a sacred place, the foremost local Brāhmaṇa lineage/person (Aṣṭakulika) should be preferred.