Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
कदाचिद्देवपूजायां सोऽपि ब्राह्मणसत्तमाः । विश्वासं नैव निर्याति कस्यचिच्च कथंचन
kadāciddevapūjāyāṃ so'pi brāhmaṇasattamāḥ | viśvāsaṃ naiva niryāti kasyacicca kathaṃcana
Mitunter, selbst während der Verehrung der Gottheit, schenkte jener Mann—o bester der Brāhmaṇas—niemandem Vertrauen, in keiner Weise.
Sūta (contextual continuation)
Listener: brāhmaṇa addressee (vocative 'brāhmaṇasattama')
Scene: A worship scene: lamps and flowers before the deity, yet the worshipper’s eyes keep darting toward the door and toward his guarded wealth; hands offer flowers while the face shows suspicion.
FAQs
Outer worship without inner purity leaves one ruled by fear and suspicion rather than faith and dharma.
Not specified in this verse; the tīrtha-context frames the moral lesson.
Deva-pūjā is mentioned generally, without a specific injunction.