Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 26
हतो नखांभसा वा त्वं घृष्टः शूर्पानिलेन च । अजामार्जनिकोत्थैश्चरजोभिर्वा समाश्रितः
hato nakhāṃbhasā vā tvaṃ ghṛṣṭaḥ śūrpānilena ca | ajāmārjanikotthaiścarajobhirvā samāśritaḥ
«¿O fuiste golpeado por el “agua de las uñas”, o frotado por el viento de un aventador? ¿O has quedado cubierto por el polvo levantado al barrer y limpiar?»
Diti (addressing Śakra/Indra)
Listener: Sages (frame implied)
Scene: Diti lists mundane causes of defilement—water from nails, gusts from a winnowing fan, sweeping dust—while Indra remains visibly afflicted, implying a deeper stain.
FAQs
Purāṇic speech often uses purity/impurity imagery to signal inner decline; the verse probes whether defilement—literal or moral—has eclipsed divine splendor.
The setting is the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 22); this śloka itself does not name the tīrtha.
No explicit prescription; the verse uses ritual-purity metaphors rather than giving a rite.
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