Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
अथासौ कलिनाविष्टो द्यूतं चक्रे महीपतिः । पुष्करेण समं विप्रा दायादेन दिवानिशम्
athāsau kalināviṣṭo dyūtaṃ cakre mahīpatiḥ | puṣkareṇa samaṃ viprā dāyādena divāniśam
Dann, von Kali ergriffen, verfiel jener König dem Würfelspiel; o Brahmanen, Tag und Nacht spielte er zusammen mit Puṣkara, seinem Verwandten.
Sūta
Listener: viprāḥ (explicit)
Scene: A tense dice-game scene: Nala and Puṣkara facing each other, dice on a cloth, shadowy presence of Kali behind Nala; anxious courtiers; night blending into day to show ‘divāniśam’.
FAQs
Unchecked vice, especially gambling, is portrayed as a doorway for Kali—leading even the virtuous into ruin when discernment is lost.
The immediate focus is narrative (Nala’s downfall) that frames the later sanctity of the Carmamuṇḍā Devī place within this Tīrthamāhātmya.
None; it warns through narrative example about the danger of dyūta (gambling).