Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 68
तेषां मध्यस्थितश्चैकस्त्रिजातो ब्राह्मणाधमः । तेन तद्दूषितं द्रव्यं समग्रं होमसंभवम्
teṣāṃ madhyasthitaścaikastrijāto brāhmaṇādhamaḥ | tena taddūṣitaṃ dravyaṃ samagraṃ homasaṃbhavam
“তেওঁলোকৰ মাজত এজন আছে—মধ্যস্থানে থকা ত্ৰিজাত, ব্ৰাহ্মণসকলৰ ভিতৰত অধম। তাৰ কাৰণে হোমৰ বাবে উৎপন্ন সমগ্ৰ দ্ৰব্য অপবিত্ৰ হৈ পৰিছে।”
Vahni (Agni)
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijottamāḥ (Brahmins)
Scene: Agni reveals a troubling figure among the sixteen—one marked as unworthy—standing amid the circle; the offerings and ladles appear shadowed/tainted, smoke turning dark to signify defilement.
FAQs
Ritual efficacy depends on purity of conduct and qualification; a single adharmic element can corrupt a collective rite.
The verse is embedded in a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter but is primarily about ritual integrity, not a named site.
An implicit requirement: ensure qualified, pure participants and undefiled materials in homa; remove the contaminating agent.