Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 77
ग्रहाणां भास्करो यद्वन्नक्षत्राणां निशाकरः । तद्वत्स्थानजविप्राणां श्रेष्ठोऽष्टकुलिकः स्मृतः
grahāṇāṃ bhāskaro yadvannakṣatrāṇāṃ niśākaraḥ | tadvatsthānajaviprāṇāṃ śreṣṭho'ṣṭakulikaḥ smṛtaḥ
ഗ്രഹങ്ങളിൽ ഭാസ്കരൻ (സൂര്യൻ) പ്രധാനനും, നക്ഷത്രങ്ങളിൽ നിശാകരൻ (ചന്ദ്രൻ) പ്രധാനനും ആകുന്നതുപോലെ, ആ പുണ്യസ്ഥാനത്തിലെ സ്ഥാനജ ബ്രാഹ്മണന്മാരിൽ അഷ്ടകുലികൻ ശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ എന്നു സ്മൃത।
Viśvāmitra (deduced)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A night-to-day diptych: Sun and Moon above a tīrtha-ghāṭa; below, an aṣṭakulika brāhmaṇa stands like a ‘human luminary’ guiding pilgrims with a staff and scripture.
FAQs
Dharma in a tīrtha includes discerning spiritual qualification; selecting the best-suited officiant is portrayed as natural and orderly, like cosmic hierarchies.
The ‘sthāna’ (sacred place) context is praised generally within Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; the verse itself does not name a particular site.
Guidance by implication: for rites performed at a sacred place, the foremost local Brāhmaṇa lineage/person (Aṣṭakulika) should be preferred.