Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 23
तदेव हि परं ज्ञानं कामो येन प्रजायते । महत्तपस्तदेवाहुश्चातुमास्ये फलोत्तमम्
tadeva hi paraṃ jñānaṃ kāmo yena prajāyate | mahattapastadevāhuścātumāsye phalottamam
Ceci, en vérité, est la connaissance suprême : celle par laquelle le désir naît et se comprend jusqu’à sa racine. Cela seul, dit-on, est la grande austérité, portant le fruit le plus excellent durant la saison de Cāturmāsya.
Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya didactic context)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A meditating ascetic watches a subtle chain: sense-object → thought → desire, depicted as translucent links dissolving into light; monsoon clouds mark Cāturmāsya, and a radiant fruit/lotus symbolizes ‘phalottama’.
FAQs
Know the causal roots of desire and discipline them; such insight itself becomes great tapas, ripening especially in Cāturmāsya.
No particular tīrtha is specified; the verse highlights the season (Cāturmāsya) as a sacred time that amplifies spiritual results.
Practice ‘great tapas’ during Cāturmāsya—understood as disciplined living supported by self-knowledge and restraint.