Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 40
सकामो यदि विप्रेंद्र ध्यायमानः सुरूपताम् । निष्कामो वा परं स्थानं गमि ष्यति शिवात्मकम्
sakāmo yadi vipreṃdra dhyāyamānaḥ surūpatām | niṣkāmo vā paraṃ sthānaṃ gami ṣyati śivātmakam
O Fürst der Brāhmaṇas! Tut es jemand mit Verlangen und meditiert über Schönheit, so erlangt er eine anmutige Gestalt; ist er aber verlangensfrei, so geht er zur höchsten Stätte, die von der Natur Śivas ist.
Bhagavān
Type: kshetra
Listener: viprendra (chief of brāhmaṇas)
Scene: A brāhmaṇa devotee at a sacred ford meditates on radiant beauty; the scene bifurcates symbolically—one path showing enhanced comeliness, the other a luminous ascent into Śiva’s supreme realm.
FAQs
The same sacred act yields different fruits according to intention: desire leads to worldly enhancement, while desirelessness leads toward Śiva-realization and the highest state.
The tīrtha of Nāgarakhaṇḍa Adhyāya 11, whose practice is framed as capable of granting both worldly and transcendental outcomes.
Dhyāna (meditative intention) is highlighted—either meditating on beauty for sakāma fruit or approaching desirelessly for the supreme Śiva-oriented fruit.