Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 68
मित्रवच्च भगस्त्वष्टा सहस्रेण शतेन च । उत्तरोपक्रमेऽर्कस्य वर्धन्ते रश्मयः सदा । दक्षिणोपक्रमे भूयो ह्रसन्ते सूर्यरश्मयः
mitravacca bhagastvaṣṭā sahasreṇa śatena ca | uttaropakrame'rkasya vardhante raśmayaḥ sadā | dakṣiṇopakrame bhūyo hrasante sūryaraśmayaḥ
મિત્ર, ભગ, ત્વષ્ટા વગેરે—કુલ એક હજાર એક સો—સૂર્યશક્તિઓ છે. સૂર્યના ઉત્તરાયણમાં તેની કિરણો સદા વધે છે; દક્ષિણાયણમાં સૂર્યકિરણો ફરી ઘટે છે.
Śiva (Īśvara)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa Kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sāṃba / Yādava addressee (contextual)
Scene: A symbolic diagram-like scene: Sūrya’s orb with rays expanding during uttarāyaṇa and contracting during dakṣiṇāyana; attendant Ādityas (Mitra, Bhaga, Tvaṣṭṛ, etc.) arranged around the solar disc like a mandala.
FAQs
It links cosmic order to dharma: the Sun’s ordained courses symbolize a regulated universe where worship aligns human life with ṛta (sacred order).
Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Prabhāsatīrtha region), where Sūrya is praised in connection with Sāṃbāditya.
No direct ritual is prescribed here; the verse explains the Sun’s northern and southern courses as a sacred cosmological teaching.