Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
एतस्मिन्नंतरे कश्चिन्न मर्त्यो यजति क्षितौ । न होमं नैव जाप्यं च दैत्याञ्ज्ञात्वा सुरास्पदे
etasminnaṃtare kaścinna martyo yajati kṣitau | na homaṃ naiva jāpyaṃ ca daityāñjñātvā surāspade
In that interval, no mortal on earth performed sacrifice—nor offering into fire, nor even mantra-recitation—knowing that the Daityas had taken their place in the realm of the gods.
Sūta (continuing narration)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (frame)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis of Naimiṣāraṇya (implied)
Scene: A quiet, desolate sacrificial ground: cold fire-altars, extinguished agni, abandoned ladles; villagers hide indoors. Above, a dim celestial realm shows daityas seated where devas should be, symbolizing inversion.
FAQs
When fear and adharma rule, sacred practices wane—showing how yajña, homa, and japa sustain both society and cosmic harmony.
The broader section is within Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya, but this verse speaks generally of earth and heaven rather than a named tīrtha act.
Yajña, homa, and japa are mentioned as practices that ceased due to fear and the Daityas’ ascendancy.