Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 78
अन्योऽपि मर्त्यलोकेत्र यः करिष्यति मानवः । मकरस्थे रवौ मह्यं संक्रांतौ रजनीमुखे । स नूनं मद्गणो भावी सकृत्कृत्वाऽथ कंबलम्
anyo'pi martyaloketra yaḥ kariṣyati mānavaḥ | makarasthe ravau mahyaṃ saṃkrāṃtau rajanīmukhe | sa nūnaṃ madgaṇo bhāvī sakṛtkṛtvā'tha kaṃbalam
اور عالمِ فانی میں جو کوئی انسان میرے لیے یہ عمل کرے—جب سورج مکر (جدّی) میں ہو، سنکرانتی کے وقت، رات کے آغاز پر—وہ یقیناً میرا گن بنے گا، اگرچہ اس نے یہ کام صرف ایک بار ہی کیا ہو: گھی والا کمبل بنانا یا نذر کرنا۔
Śiva
Type: kshetra
Listener: The devotee and, by extension, future practitioners (any mānava)
Scene: At dusk on Makara-saṅkrānti, a devotee offers a kambala (blanket) with ghee association to Śiva; the sky shows the sun’s transition symbolism, lamps are lit, and gaṇa-figures appear as auspicious omens.
FAQs
A single, correctly-timed act of devotion and charity, offered to Śiva with sincerity, is declared powerful enough to transform one’s spiritual destiny.
The emphasis is on the calendrical sacred time (Makara-saṅkrānti) rather than a named geography in this verse.
Perform ghṛta-kaṃbala-related offering/charity for Śiva at Makara-saṅkrānti, specifically at rajanīmukha (evening/onset of night).