Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 90
अथ दीक्षां समासाद्य तोषयामि दिनेदिने । तं चैव तस्य पत्नीं तां यथोक्तपरिचर्यया । अशुद्धेनापि चित्तेन छिद्रान्वेषणतत्परः
atha dīkṣāṃ samāsādya toṣayāmi dinedine | taṃ caiva tasya patnīṃ tāṃ yathoktaparicaryayā | aśuddhenāpi cittena chidrānveṣaṇatatparaḥ
ثم لما نلتُ الدِّيكشا، ظللتُ أُرضيه يومًا بعد يوم؛ وخدمتُ زوجته أيضًا كما هو مذكورٌ في الشرع. ومع ذلك، وبرغم نجاسة قلبي، كنتُ مواظبًا على التماس العيب، مترصّدًا ثغرةً أدخل منها.
Unspecified narrator (likely the offending disciple speaking within the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A disciple performs daily service to a sage and the sage’s wife with outward propriety, while his face and posture subtly reveal concealed malice and watchfulness.
FAQs
Outer observance (dīkṣā and service) is fruitless when the mind is impure and intent on wrongdoing; dharma requires inner integrity.
This verse is part of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative frame; the specific tīrtha is not named in this shloka.
Dīkṣā (initiation) and yathokta-paricaryā (service according to prescribed rule) are referenced, emphasizing disciplined conduct.