Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 39
भवंति च तथा नूनं वृथा भस्महुतं यथा । अरण्ये रुदितानीव ऊषरे वापितानि च
bhavaṃti ca tathā nūnaṃ vṛthā bhasmahutaṃ yathā | araṇye ruditānīva ūṣare vāpitāni ca
إنها تصيرُ يقينًا عبثًا—كقُربانٍ يُسكَبُ على الرماد، وكبكاءٍ في الغابة، وكبذرٍ يُلقى في أرضٍ سبخةٍ قاحلة.
Unspecified in snippet (didactic voice continuing prior statement)
Scene: A didactic tableau of three similes: oblation poured onto cold ash, a lone figure weeping unheard in a dense forest, and seeds scattered on cracked saline earth—symbolizing wasted effort.
FAQs
Merit depends on proper dharmic alignment; otherwise even ‘religious’ effort becomes as useless as wasted offerings or barren sowing.
None is named in this verse; it uses universal imagery to stress the point.
It alludes to oblation (huta) but gives no specific ritual instruction—only the warning about futility.