Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
कच्चित्ते सफला वेदाः कच्चित्ते सफलं श्रुतम् । कच्चित्ते सफला दाराः कच्चित्ते सफलं धनम्
kaccitte saphalā vedāḥ kaccitte saphalaṃ śrutam | kaccitte saphalā dārāḥ kaccitte saphalaṃ dhanam
„Tragen deine Veden Frucht? Ist dein gehörtes und erlerntes Wissen (śruta) fruchtbar? Tragen Gattin und Hausleben Frucht? Trägt dein Reichtum Frucht?“
Mārkaṇḍeya (implied by adjacent context)
Listener: Śaunaka-group (frame implied)
Scene: The sage, with calm authority, asks a sequence of probing questions; the king listens attentively, hands folded, as if undergoing a moral examination.
FAQs
Life’s pillars—scripture, learning, family, and wealth—must be judged by their dharmic ‘fruit,’ not mere possession.
No specific tīrtha is named; the teaching is ethical and applies within the pilgrimage narrative.
None directly; it sets up criteria for dharmic fulfillment that will be defined in the next verse.