Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 36
नाग्निस्तृप्यति काष्ठानां नापगानां महोदधिः । नांतकः सर्वभूतानां न पुंसां वामलोचना
nāgnistṛpyati kāṣṭhānāṃ nāpagānāṃ mahodadhiḥ | nāṃtakaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ na puṃsāṃ vāmalocanā
Fire is never sated with wood; the great ocean is never sated by rivers. Death (Antaka) is never sated with beings—nor is the fair-eyed woman ever sated with men.
Garuḍa
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (standard Skanda Purāṇa frame)
Scene: A didactic tableau: blazing fire consuming logs; rivers pouring into a vast ocean; Yama/Death gathering beings; a courtesan-like 'vāmalochanā' symbolizing insatiable desire—arranged as four emblematic panels around a central sage reciting nīti.
FAQs
Worldly appetite is portrayed as insatiable; liberation-oriented dharma requires restraint and higher discernment.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it supports the chapter’s broader tīrtha-mahātmya by emphasizing inner discipline.
None; it is a proverbial teaching on the nature of insatiability.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Skanda Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.