Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 54
ततो रोग परिक्लेशाद्भोजनं न चकार सः । दाघार्दितो जले तस्मिन्स्नातो भक्तिविवर्जितः । सक्तून्कृत्वोपधाने तान्स च सुप्तो निशागमे
tato roga parikleśādbhojanaṃ na cakāra saḥ | dāghārdito jale tasminsnāto bhaktivivarjitaḥ | saktūnkṛtvopadhāne tānsa ca supto niśāgame
Then, afflicted by the torment of illness, he did not eat. Scorched by heat, he bathed in that water—without devotional feeling—and placing those saktu by his pillow, he fell asleep at nightfall.
Pulastya
Tirtha: Arbuda-tīrtha-jala (unnamed water)
Type: kund
Listener: Rājā
Scene: Under oppressive heat, the leprous man steps into a shimmering sacred pool/stream, bathes mechanically without prayer, then sets his small bundle of saktu by his head and collapses into sleep as dusk falls.
FAQs
Ritual action without bhakti is spiritually thin; yet even imperfect acts can become occasions for later grace and dharmic transformation.
The episode unfolds in the Arbuda sacred landscape, later linked explicitly with the vicinity of Acaleśvara.
Snāna (bathing) is mentioned, but explicitly described as done without devotion; the story redirects attention toward dāna and vrata later.