Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
स देवानामहोरात्रं पुराणज्ञाः प्रचक्षते । अयनं चोत्तरं शुक्लं यद्देवानां दिनं च तत् । यद्दक्षिणं तु सा रात्रिः शुभकर्मविगर्हिता
sa devānāmahorātraṃ purāṇajñāḥ pracakṣate | ayanaṃ cottaraṃ śuklaṃ yaddevānāṃ dinaṃ ca tat | yaddakṣiṇaṃ tu sā rātriḥ śubhakarmavigarhitā
പുരാണജ്ഞർ ഈ വാർഷിക ചക്രത്തെ ദേവന്മാരുടെ അഹോരാത്രമെന്ന് പറയുന്നു. ശുക്ല ഉത്തരായണം ദേവന്മാരുടെ പകൽ; ദക്ഷിണായണം അവരുടെ രാത്രി—ശുഭകർമ്മങ്ങൾക്ക് അനനുകൂലമെന്നു നിന്ദിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന കാലം.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa)
Listener: dvijoत्तमāḥ (addressed audience: best of twice-born)
Scene: A cosmic diagram-like scene: the sun’s northward and southward paths shown as bright and dark halves; devas in a luminous assembly during Uttarāyaṇa and withdrawn/veiled during Dakṣiṇāyaṇa; a sage instructing pilgrims beside a tīrtha.
FAQs
Auspicious action is linked to cosmic order; aligning one’s undertakings with the ‘day of the gods’ is presented as dharmically superior.
No single tirtha is named; the verse provides a pan-Indic calendrical principle often applied to pilgrimage and vrata timing.
Prefer śubha-karmas during Uttarāyaṇa (the gods’ day); Dakṣiṇāyaṇa is characterized as comparatively unsuitable for auspicious rites.