Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 49
भविष्यंति युगस्यांते नराः अंगुष्ठमात्रकाः । गृहं च तेऽथ कुर्वंति बिलैराखुसमुद्भवैः
bhaviṣyaṃti yugasyāṃte narāḥ aṃguṣṭhamātrakāḥ | gṛhaṃ ca te'tha kurvaṃti bilairākhusamudbhavaiḥ
Am Ende des Zeitalters werden die Menschen nur daumengroß sein. Dann werden sie ihre Wohnungen aus den Löchern machen, die aus Rattenbauten hervorgehen.
Unspecified (Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya; deduced as a narrator describing Kali-yuga signs)
Scene: Surreal end-of-age tableau: tiny thumb-sized humans entering rat-burrows as dwellings; vast, indifferent landscape; a distant temple spire or sacred river remains proportionally immense, symbolizing the enduring sacred.
FAQs
It uses stark end-of-age imagery to stress the consequences of prolonged dharma decline and the urgency of spiritual refuge in sacred practice.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse.
None.