Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 23
प्रेतत्वं जायते यस्मात्तस्माच्छ्राद्धस्य तद्दिनम् । श्राद्धार्हं पार्थिवश्रेष्ठ विशेषेण प्रकीर्तितम्
pretatvaṃ jāyate yasmāttasmācchrāddhasya taddinam | śrāddhārhaṃ pārthivaśreṣṭha viśeṣeṇa prakīrtitam
ആ ദിവസം പ്രേതത്വം ഉണ്ടാകുന്നതിനാൽ, ആ ദിവസം തന്നെയാണ്—ഹേ രാജശ്രേഷ്ഠാ—വിശേഷമായി ശ്രാദ്ധകർമ്മത്തിന് യോഗ്യമെന്ന് പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത്।
Unspecified (contextual narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya, instructing a king)
Listener: King (pārthiva-śreṣṭha)
Scene: A didactic scene: a sage instructs a king about the preta-state and the special śrāddha day; behind them, a symbolic depiction of a preta at the threshold between worlds, awaiting offerings.
FAQs
Ritual timing matters in Pitṛ-dharma: śrāddha should be performed on the day specifically connected with the preta-state for the departed’s welfare.
This verse is part of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya framework; the snippet itself emphasizes śrāddha-eligibility rather than naming a single tīrtha.
It prescribes that the relevant day is specially ‘śrāddhārha’—fit for performing śrāddha for the departed.