Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 70
नान्यस्य कर्मणः शक्तिर्विद्यते ते नखायुध । पूजादिकस्य हीनत्वाद्धस्ताभ्यामिति मे मतिः
nānyasya karmaṇaḥ śaktirvidyate te nakhāyudha | pūjādikasya hīnatvāddhastābhyāmiti me matiḥ
يا من سلاحُه المخالب، ليست لك قدرةٌ على أعمالٍ أخرى من المناسك. ولأنك تفتقر إلى وسائل العبادة الرسمية وما شابهها، فإني أرى أن الأنسب هو التعبّد بما تملكه من «يدين»—أي بأفعالٍ يسيرة كالدوران حوله والانحناء بالسجود.
Nandinī (deduced: continues her instruction)
Tirtha: Bāṇa-pratiṣṭhita Mahāliṅga (forest shrine)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Tiger (addressed as nakhāyudha)
Scene: Nandinī gently explains to the claw-weaponed tiger that elaborate rites are beyond him; therefore, simple bodily devotion—circumambulation and bowing—is the fitting path.
FAQs
Dharma and devotion are accessible: when elaborate ritual is impossible, sincere simple acts remain effective.
The same great forest Liṅga (Bāṇa-pratiṣṭhita) is implied as the locus of these simplified devotional acts.
It prioritizes simple bodily devotion (like circumambulation and bowing) over elaborate pūjā when one lacks the means.