Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 10
एतस्मिन्नेव काले तु सांकृतिर्मुनिसत्तमः । गुप्तश्चक्रे ततस्तस्यां गर्तायां छन्नवर्ष्मकः । यत्र पूर्वं तपस्तप्तं वृकेण च द्विजाः पुरा
etasminneva kāle tu sāṃkṛtirmunisattamaḥ | guptaścakre tatastasyāṃ gartāyāṃ channavarṣmakaḥ | yatra pūrvaṃ tapastaptaṃ vṛkeṇa ca dvijāḥ purā
അന്നേ സമയത്ത് മുനിശ്രേഷ്ഠനായ സാംകൃതി തന്റെ ദേഹം മറച്ച് അവിടെയുള്ള കുഴിയിൽ ഗുപ്തനായി പാർത്തു—പൂർവകാലത്ത് ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ വൃകൻ തപസ്സനുഷ്ഠിച്ച അതേ സ്ഥലത്ത്।
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa context; specific speaker not explicit in this snippet)
Type: cave
Scene: A forested tīrtha-zone with a concealed pit/cave; the sage Sāṃkṛti, body hidden, absorbed in tapas; subtle signs of sanctity—flowers, calm light—hinting at a prior ascetic legacy of Vṛka.
FAQs
Holy places retain the ‘memory’ of tapas; later sages draw protection and spiritual potency by practicing in sites sanctified by earlier austerities.
The narrative is anchored in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra region within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
Tapas (austerity) is the emphasized discipline; the verse recalls prior austerities at the same spot.