Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
यथा सुप्तो न गृह्णाति किंचिद्भोगादिकं नरः । तथा देवाश्च यज्ञांशान्न गृह्णन्ति कथं चन
yathā supto na gṛhṇāti kiṃcidbhogādikaṃ naraḥ | tathā devāśca yajñāṃśānna gṛhṇanti kathaṃ cana
Wie ein schlafender Mensch wahrhaftig weder Genuss noch Sinnesobjekte ergreift, so nehmen auch die Götter in keiner Weise die Opferanteile an, wenn die rechte Voraussetzung (Wachheit/Tauglichkeit) fehlt.
Skanda (deduced; Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narration style)
Scene: A split-scene metaphor: a man asleep beside untouched pleasures; parallel to devas in repose while a priest offers oblations that do not ‘reach’ them; a sage explains the principle to attentive listeners.
FAQs
Rituals bear fruit only when performed with the right inner condition—wakeful awareness, discipline, and dharmic fitness.
This verse functions as doctrinal support within the Tīrthamāhātmya flow; the specific tīrtha is not named in this shloka alone.
No specific rite is prescribed here; it clarifies the principle of devas ‘accepting’ yajña-portions only under proper conditions.