Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
शक्रो ऽवतीर्य नागेन्द्रात् पादेनाथ प्रदक्षिणम् कृत्वा तस्थौगुहो ऽभ्येत्य मूढङ्किं संस्थितो भवान्
śakro 'vatīrya nāgendrāt pādenātha pradakṣiṇam kṛtvā tasthauguho 'bhyetya mūḍhaṅkiṃ saṃsthito bhavān
释迦罗(因陀罗)自那伽因陀罗——诸蛇之主——降下,以足行右绕(pradakṣiṇā)而后立于其处。古诃前来问曰:“迷妄者,你为何站在这里?”
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The verse stresses ritual precedence and the act of honoring a sacred locus/person by circumambulation. Mentioning ‘with the foot’ underscores immediacy—Indra performs the rite the moment he descends—setting up a dispute about who completed the honorific act first.
Guha functions as a divine figure who confronts Indra. In Purāṇic usage, ‘Guha’ can denote a named deity/attendant (often linked with Skanda/Kārttikeya traditions) or a ‘hidden’ guardian figure; here he is the interlocutor who challenges Indra’s stance and initiates the quarrel.
Not in this verse. ‘Nāgendra’ is a mythic referent (serpent-king/serpent-lord) rather than a named tirtha. If the surrounding chapter identifies a particular nāga, lake, or subterranean realm, that would supply the geographic anchor; this line alone does not.