Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 70
शेषाः सर्वे गतिभ्रंशं प्राप्य भूमार्गमाश्रिताः । अथ ते स्वाश्रमं दृष्ट्वा विकृताकारभूषणम् । किमिदंकिमिदं प्रोचुर्यत्तापस्यो विडंबिताः
śeṣāḥ sarve gatibhraṃśaṃ prāpya bhūmārgamāśritāḥ | atha te svāśramaṃ dṛṣṭvā vikṛtākārabhūṣaṇam | kimidaṃkimidaṃ procuryattāpasyo viḍaṃbitāḥ
Die übrigen jedoch, ihres früheren Fortbewegens beraubt, nahmen den Weg der Erde. Als sie dann ihren Āśrama sahen, seltsam entstellt und gleichsam in verzerrter Weise „geschmückt“, riefen sie immer wieder: „Was ist das—was ist das?“, denn die Asketinnen waren verhöhnt worden.
Narrator (contextual; Sūta as frame-narrator)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame implied)
Scene: A group of ascetics trudges along an earthly road, their faces strained; they arrive at their hermitage and see it grotesquely ‘decorated’—misplaced ornaments and garments—while the ascetic women appear dishonored; the sages cry out in repeated shock.
FAQs
Mocking or dishonoring ascetics is treated as a grave fault; disorder in sacred spaces mirrors moral disorder and invites consequences.
The verse focuses on an āśrama incident within a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter; a specific named site is not stated here.
None directly; it signals the onset of moral retribution and impending corrective action.