Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 54
षष्ठान्नकालभोज्यस्य व्रतचर्यारतस्य च । एवं तस्याऽपि संस्थस्य गतः कालो महान्मुने । न च तुष्यति देवेश स्ताभ्यां द्वाभ्यां कथञ्चन
ṣaṣṭhānnakālabhojyasya vratacaryāratasya ca | evaṃ tasyā'pi saṃsthasya gataḥ kālo mahānmune | na ca tuṣyati deveśa stābhyāṃ dvābhyāṃ kathañcana
ومع أنه لم يكن يأكل إلا عند وقت الوجبة السادسة، وكان مولعًا برياضة النذر وحسن السلوك—هكذا، أيها الحكيم العظيم، مضى زمنٌ طويل وهو مقيمٌ في التقشّف؛ ومع ذلك لم يرضَ ربُّ الآلهة بأي وجهٍ بهذين الأمرين وحدهما.
Narrative voice addressing a sage-listener (“mune” indicates an interlocutor)
Type: kshetra
Listener: mahāmuni (addressed as ‘O great sage’)
Scene: A long passage of time shown through changing seasons around an ashram shrine; the ascetic maintains strict meal restraint and vrata discipline, yet the deity remains unmanifest, creating a quiet tension.
FAQs
Austerities and rules alone may not suffice; divine grace is won through fuller devotion and right inner disposition.
The Hāṭakeśvara-related tīrtha context continues; the verse highlights the intensity of practice within that sacred geography.
Vrata-caryā (vowed discipline) and severe dietary restraint (infrequent eating) are described.