Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 28
एषोऽपि तापसो दुष्टो यः करोति शिवालयम् । नैव तस्य भवेत्सिद्धिश्चापि वर्षशतैरपि
eṣo'pi tāpaso duṣṭo yaḥ karoti śivālayam | naiva tasya bhavetsiddhiścāpi varṣaśatairapi
This ascetic too is wicked—he who builds a Śiva-temple. For him there will be no accomplishment, not even after hundreds of years.
Brāhmaṇas (Dvijas)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A stern assembly of brāhmaṇas pronounces a curse-like judgment upon a self-styled ascetic patron standing before an unfinished Śiva-prāsāda; the temple scaffolding and unlaid stones symbolize incomplete merit.
FAQs
Sacred works yield fruit when rooted in dharma; wrongdoing can nullify the expected spiritual ‘siddhi’ of even temple-building.
No specific tīrtha is identified in this verse; it references a Śiva-temple in general.
Temple construction (śivālaya/prāsāda) is mentioned, but no formal ritual procedure is described.
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