Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14
एवं संगच्छतस्तस्य वृद्धिं गर्भस्य नित्यशः । द्वादशाब्दा अतिक्रांता न जन्म समवाप्नुयात्
evaṃ saṃgacchatastasya vṛddhiṃ garbhasya nityaśaḥ | dvādaśābdā atikrāṃtā na janma samavāpnuyāt
Demikianlah janin itu membesar dari hari ke hari; namun walau dua belas tahun telah berlalu, ia masih belum mencapai kelahiran.
Narrator (contextual; immediately preceding Vyāsa’s speech in the same episode)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A symbolic tableau of time: twelve lamps or twelve lunar cycles encircling the mother, indicating twelve years; the unborn sage’s aura steady and contained, suggesting deliberate delay of birth.
FAQs
It hints that embodiment and birth unfold under unseen karmic and divine timing, not merely biological expectation.
This verse is within the Tīrthamāhātmya flow of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, but no specific tīrtha is named in this single shloka.
None is stated here; it is narrative description.