Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
अथ तस्याः स्मृतिर्जाता पूर्वजन्मसमुद्भवा । चंडालत्वे मया पूर्वं गौरेका वितृषीकृता
atha tasyāḥ smṛtirjātā pūrvajanmasamudbhavā | caṃḍālatve mayā pūrvaṃ gaurekā vitṛṣīkṛtā
Alors s’éveilla en elle un souvenir, né d’une existence antérieure : «Autrefois, lorsque j’étais de condition caṇḍāla, j’ai un jour apaisé la soif d’une vache au pelage clair.»
The woman (inner recollection reported in the narrative)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages (frame implied)
Scene: The maiden pauses in the sacred field as a luminous flash of remembrance arises; a vignette-like past-life scene appears: a caṇḍāla woman offering water to a thirsty cow.
FAQs
Even a single compassionate act (like relieving thirst) becomes enduring puṇya, ripening across births—especially when awakened in a sacred kṣetra.
Implicitly the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra context of Adhyāya 62, where the kṣetra’s power to awaken karmic memory is being shown.
No formal rite is prescribed; the verse highlights go-sevā/compassion as dharma generating puṇya.