Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1
आनर्त उवाच । अन्येऽपि विविधाः कालाः सन्ति पुण्यतमा द्विज । कस्माच्चेंदुक्षये श्राद्धं विशेषा त्समुदाहृतम्
ānarta uvāca | anye'pi vividhāḥ kālāḥ santi puṇyatamā dvija | kasmācceṃdukṣaye śrāddhaṃ viśeṣā tsamudāhṛtam
Ānarta berkata: “Wahai dvija (yang dua kali lahir), ada juga banyak waktu lain yang amat berkat. Mengapakah pula persembahan Śrāddha pada saat bulan menyusut (indu-kṣaya) dipuji secara khusus?”
Ānarta
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Bhartṛyajña (addressed as dvija/mahāmune)
Scene: King Ānarta respectfully questions a sage about the special merit of śrāddha during the Moon’s waning; the sky shows a thinning crescent; a ritual platform with darbha and water-vessel sits nearby.
FAQs
It urges discernment in dharma by asking why certain sacred times are singled out for ancestral rites.
The setting remains within Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya, though this verse focuses on sacred timing rather than a new site.
Śrāddha is discussed, specifically its special commendation at the Moon’s waning (Amāvasyā context).