Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 77
ग्रहाणां भास्करो यद्वन्नक्षत्राणां निशाकरः । तद्वत्स्थानजविप्राणां श्रेष्ठोऽष्टकुलिकः स्मृतः
grahāṇāṃ bhāskaro yadvannakṣatrāṇāṃ niśākaraḥ | tadvatsthānajaviprāṇāṃ śreṣṭho'ṣṭakulikaḥ smṛtaḥ
கிரகங்களில் பாஸ்கரன் (சூரியன்) முதன்மை; நக்ஷத்திரங்களில் நிசாகரன் (சந்திரன்) முதன்மை; அதுபோல அந்தப் புனிதத் தலத்தின் ஸ்தானஜ பிராமணர்களில் அஷ்டகுலிகன் முதன்மை எனக் கருதப்படுகிறான்।
Viśvāmitra (deduced)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A night-to-day diptych: Sun and Moon above a tīrtha-ghāṭa; below, an aṣṭakulika brāhmaṇa stands like a ‘human luminary’ guiding pilgrims with a staff and scripture.
FAQs
Dharma in a tīrtha includes discerning spiritual qualification; selecting the best-suited officiant is portrayed as natural and orderly, like cosmic hierarchies.
The ‘sthāna’ (sacred place) context is praised generally within Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; the verse itself does not name a particular site.
Guidance by implication: for rites performed at a sacred place, the foremost local Brāhmaṇa lineage/person (Aṣṭakulika) should be preferred.