Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 41
मन्त्रहीनां तु यः कुर्याद्भक्तिं देवस्य भारत । स विडम्बति चात्मानं पशुकीटपतङ्गवत्
mantrahīnāṃ tu yaḥ kuryādbhaktiṃ devasya bhārata | sa viḍambati cātmānaṃ paśukīṭapataṅgavat
Mais, ô Bhārata, celui qui rend un culte au dieu sans le mantra ne fait que se tourner lui-même en dérision, tel une bête, un ver ou un insecte.
Narrative voice addressing “Bhārata” (listener within the dialogue)
Tirtha: Revā tīrtha (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Bhārata (addressed)
Scene: A contrast scene: one devotee performs mantra-guided worship with focus; another performs showy but mantra-less gestures, depicted as confused and diminished, likened symbolically to animals/insects—an allegory of heedlessness.
FAQs
Devotion should be aligned with scriptural method; bhakti is praised, but disciplined worship with mantra is presented as the proper dharmic form.
The teaching functions as guidance for worship undertaken in the Revā-khaṇḍa pilgrimage milieu rather than naming a single site in this verse.
It implies the necessity of mantra in deity-worship; worship should not be performed “mantra-hīna” (without the prescribed mantra).