Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44
अद्य पुण्यतिथिर्नाम वैशाखी पुण्यदा परा । यस्यामस्य पुरो भक्त्या नरः कुर्यात्प्रजागरम् । महाकालस्य देवस्य सौख्यं प्राप्नोत्यसंशयम्
adya puṇyatithirnāma vaiśākhī puṇyadā parā | yasyāmasya puro bhaktyā naraḥ kuryātprajāgaram | mahākālasya devasya saukhyaṃ prāpnotyasaṃśayam
«Aujourd’hui est le tithi sacré nommé Vaiśākhī, qui accorde un mérite suprême. En ce jour, si quelqu’un veille avec dévotion devant ce Seigneur Mahākāla, il obtient sa grâce et le bien-être, sans aucun doute.»
Deductive: Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating within Nāgara Khaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya
Tirtha: Mahākāla (Mahākāleśvara)
Type: kshetra
Listener: The pilgrim/narrator (and by extension the audience)
Scene: A priest or local declares the day as Vaiśākhī, ‘supremely merit-giving’; devotees keep an all-night vigil before Mahākāla, lamps blazing, chanting rising, with an assurance of well-being.
FAQs
Sacred time (puṇya-tithi) amplifies devotion; a sincere vigil before Mahākāla is taught to yield assured auspiciousness.
Mahākāla’s presence is central; traditionally this points toward Mahākāla’s celebrated sphere such as Ujjain, though the precise tīrtha name is not stated in this verse.
Keeping a prajāgara (devotional night vigil) before Mahākāla on the Vaiśākhī holy tithi.