Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 70
मृकण्ड उवाच । मृत्युनाऽलिंगितं बालमस्मदीयं मुनीश्वराः । भवद्भिरद्य संरक्ष्य कुलं कृत्स्नं समुद्धृतम्
mṛkaṇḍa uvāca | mṛtyunā'liṃgitaṃ bālamasmadīyaṃ munīśvarāḥ | bhavadbhiradya saṃrakṣya kulaṃ kṛtsnaṃ samuddhṛtam
മൃകണ്ഡൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ മുനീശ്വരന്മാരേ! മൃത്യു എന്റെ ബാലനെ ആലിംഗനം ചെയ്തിരുന്നു; എന്നാൽ ഇന്ന് നിങ്ങൾ സംരക്ഷിച്ച് എന്റെ സമസ്ത കുലത്തെയും ഉയർത്തി രക്ഷിച്ചു.
Mṛkaṇḍa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Munīśvarāḥ (the sages)
Scene: Mṛkaṇḍa speaks with folded hands, pointing to the child as if newly reclaimed from Yama’s embrace; sages stand as protectors, forming a protective circle.
FAQs
Gratitude (kṛtajñatā) and recognition that divine-sage protection can overturn even the grasp of Death.
Within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya context, the narrative leads toward the establishment of a Pitāmaha-related tīrtha later called Bālasakhya/Bālasakhya-tīrtha.
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it sets up the motive of gratitude that culminates in deity installation and worship in subsequent verses.