Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 27
एतस्मिन्नंतरे गोपी काचित्तत्पुरवासिनी । एकपुत्रा भर्तृहीना तत्रैवासीच्चिरंतना
etasminnaṃtare gopī kācittatpuravāsinī | ekaputrā bhartṛhīnā tatraivāsīcciraṃtanā
ഇതിനിടയിൽ അതേ നഗരത്തിൽ താമസിച്ചിരുന്ന ഒരു ഗോപിക ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു—പഴയ താമസക്കാരി—അവൾ ഭർത്താവില്ലാത്തവളും ഏകപുത്രന്റെ മാതാവും ആയിരുന്നു।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating (deduced)
Tirtha: Ujjayinī/Avanti (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A widowed cowherd woman of Ujjayinī, modestly dressed, stands near her dwelling with her only son—an intimate domestic scene amid the larger city crisis.
FAQs
The Purāṇa widens the sacred story beyond kings: even a humble, vulnerable resident becomes central to the unfolding grace of the kṣetra’s deity.
Ujjayinī (Ujjain), the city where Mahākāla’s protective power is narrated through both royal and common lives.
None in this verse; it introduces a devotee-character who will connect the narrative to Mahākāla’s kṣetra-māhātmya.