Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14
न कश्चिद्यजनं चक्रे न स्वाध्यायं न च व्रतम् । एवमालोक्यते व्योम वृष्ट्यर्थं क्षुत्समाकुलैः
na kaścidyajanaṃ cakre na svādhyāyaṃ na ca vratam | evamālokyate vyoma vṛṣṭyarthaṃ kṣutsamākulaiḥ
لم يقم أحد بتقديم القرابين، ولا بتلاوة النصوص المقدسة، ولا بأي نذر. وهكذا، وهم يعانون من الجوع، ظل الناس ينظرون إلى السماء، يتوقون إلى المطر.
Skanda (deduced; Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narration style)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Emaciated villagers with upturned faces, hands shading eyes as they scan a cloudless sky; abandoned yajña-vedi overgrown with dust; cold hearths and empty granaries.
FAQs
When spiritual disciplines (yajña, svādhyāya, vrata) are abandoned, people fall into helplessness; the text implies that dharmic practice sustains both inner and outer order.
No particular site is named; the verse supports the larger tīrtha-centered narrative by showing the consequences of dharma’s absence.
It references yajña (sacrifice), svādhyāya (scriptural recitation), and vrata (vowed observances), noting their absence rather than prescribing a specific rite.