Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 49
इति मात्रा दुःखितया निरस्तः शृणु वंशजः । झषेणापि गृहीतोऽस्मि कालो मेऽत्र महानभूत्
iti mātrā duḥkhitayā nirastaḥ śṛṇu vaṃśajaḥ | jhaṣeṇāpi gṛhīto'smi kālo me'tra mahānabhūt
ഇങ്ങനെ ദുഃഖിതയായ മാതാവ് എന്നെ തള്ളിക്കളഞ്ഞു—ഹേ വംശജാ, കേൾക്കുക. പിന്നെ ഒരു മഹാ ഝഷമീനും എന്നെ പിടിച്ചു; അവിടെ എന്റെ കാലം വളരെ ദീർഘമായി.
Narrator within the story (the afflicted person recounting his fate; exact identity not explicit in the snippet)
Listener: Vaṃśaja (descendant)
Scene: The fish-narrator describes being cast out by his grieving mother and then swallowed by an even greater fish; the long passage of time is shown by cycles of moonlight filtering through water and the stillness of captivity.
FAQs
Suffering and rejection can become the doorway to spiritual destiny; even calamity becomes a stage for divine unfolding.
The tīrtha is part of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya setting, but the verse itself does not specify a named location.
None is prescribed in this verse; it is a first-person narrative transition.