Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 12
न कश्चिच्छयनं रात्रौ प्रकरोति मही तले । धृतायुधा जनाः सर्वे तिष्ठंति सह तापसैः
na kaścicchayanaṃ rātrau prakaroti mahī tale | dhṛtāyudhā janāḥ sarve tiṣṭhaṃti saha tāpasaiḥ
رات کو زمین پر کوئی بھی سونے کے لیے نہیں لیٹتا؛ سب لوگ ہتھیار تھامے، تپسویوں کے ساتھ مل کر جاگتے اور پہرہ دیتے ہیں۔
Narrator (deduced: Purāṇic narrator in Tīrthamāhātmya frame; exact speaker not explicit in snippet)
Scene: Night watch: villagers and warriors stand with spears and bows; ascetics with matted hair and staffs beside them; torchlight flickers; no one lies down; tense silence.
FAQs
Protection of dharma and sacred space is a shared duty—ascetics and laypeople unite in disciplined vigilance.
The verse sits within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative; the precise tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka.
No explicit rite; it describes a dhārmic practice of night-watch and restraint (not sleeping) in a threatened sacred setting.