Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 31
अजोऽग्निर्वरुणो मेषः सूर्यश्च पृथिवी विराट् । धेनुर्वत्सश्च सोमो वै विक्रीयैतान्न सिध्यति
ajo'gnirvaruṇo meṣaḥ sūryaśca pṛthivī virāṭ | dhenurvatsaśca somo vai vikrīyaitānna sidhyati
The goat, Fire, Varuṇa, the ram, the Sun, the Earth, the Cosmic Being (Virāṭ), the cow and calf, and Soma—by selling such sacred beings and principles, one never attains true success.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced: Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative mode)
Scene: A symbolic procession of deities and sacred principles—Agni as flame, Varuṇa with water-pot, Soma as lunar nectar, Sūrya radiant, Pṛthivī as goddess, Virāṭ as cosmic form—while a merchant’s act of ‘sale’ is shown as futile.
FAQs
Treat sacred life-sustainers and divine principles as non-commodities; profiting by selling them obstructs dharmic accomplishment.
No single tirtha is named in this verse; it teaches general Purāṇic dharma within the Kaumārikā-khaṇḍa context.
A prohibition/ethical rule is implied: do not sell what is dharmically sacred (especially the cow-calf and other sanctified entities).