Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 12
न क्रतुर्वर्तते तत्र न चैव सुरपूजनम् । देशेदेशे च सर्वत्र ग्रामेग्रामे पुरेपुरे
na kraturvartate tatra na caiva surapūjanam | deśedeśe ca sarvatra grāmegrāme purepure
Dort wird kein vedisches Opfer vollzogen, noch wird die Verehrung der Devas bewahrt. In jedem Landstrich—überall—von Dorf zu Dorf und von Stadt zu Stadt zeigt sich diese Vernachlässigung.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced from Brāhma Khaṇḍa narrative style and purāṇic recitation context)
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Rājan (King)
Scene: A wide panorama of villages and cities where altars are cold and temples unattended—no smoke of offerings, no bells—contrasted with a distant, luminous forest boundary hinting at Dharmāraṇya’s protection.
FAQs
It laments the erosion of Vedic sacrifice and divine worship, urging a return to dharma through reverence, ritual, and right conduct across society.
This verse is thematic rather than naming a single tīrtha; within the Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa frame it supports the māhātmya by contrasting widespread neglect of worship with the sanctity and dharmic power of Dharmāraṇya.
No positive prescription is stated here; it is a negative description—absence of kratu (yajña) and sura-pūjana—setting up the text’s later encouragement toward worship and dharmic observances.