Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
स देवानामहोरात्रं पुराणज्ञाः प्रचक्षते । अयनं चोत्तरं शुक्लं यद्देवानां दिनं च तत् । यद्दक्षिणं तु सा रात्रिः शुभकर्मविगर्हिता
sa devānāmahorātraṃ purāṇajñāḥ pracakṣate | ayanaṃ cottaraṃ śuklaṃ yaddevānāṃ dinaṃ ca tat | yaddakṣiṇaṃ tu sā rātriḥ śubhakarmavigarhitā
この年の巡りを、プラーナに通じた者たちは「神々の昼夜」と説く。光明なる北行ウッタラーヤナは神々の昼であり、南行ダクシナーヤナは神々の夜で、吉事の営みに不向きとされる。
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa)
Listener: dvijoत्तमāḥ (addressed audience: best of twice-born)
Scene: A cosmic diagram-like scene: the sun’s northward and southward paths shown as bright and dark halves; devas in a luminous assembly during Uttarāyaṇa and withdrawn/veiled during Dakṣiṇāyaṇa; a sage instructing pilgrims beside a tīrtha.
FAQs
Auspicious action is linked to cosmic order; aligning one’s undertakings with the ‘day of the gods’ is presented as dharmically superior.
No single tirtha is named; the verse provides a pan-Indic calendrical principle often applied to pilgrimage and vrata timing.
Prefer śubha-karmas during Uttarāyaṇa (the gods’ day); Dakṣiṇāyaṇa is characterized as comparatively unsuitable for auspicious rites.