Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83
नवयो न च वै चित्र्यं न चित्रं विदधेहितम् । न बलं नोद्यमः पुंसां कारणं प्राक्कृतं कृतम्
navayo na ca vai citryaṃ na citraṃ vidadhehitam | na balaṃ nodyamaḥ puṃsāṃ kāraṇaṃ prākkṛtaṃ kṛtam
Ni la jeunesse, ni les ruses de l’esprit, ni les merveilles d’artifice n’assurent véritablement le bien. Ni la force ni l’effort des hommes n’en sont la cause suprême ; c’est l’acte accompli jadis—le karma passé—qui devient déterminant.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa typically Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A montage: a strong youth with weapons, a clever strategist with scrolls, an inventor with contraptions—each fades behind a larger, subtle ledger of ‘pūrva-kṛta karma’ glowing like an unseen script that governs outcomes; the central figure bows in humility.
FAQs
Lasting outcomes are deeply conditioned by prior karma; effort matters but is not sovereign—so act dharmically and accept results.
No tīrtha is named in this verse.
None; the focus is on karmic causality and the limits of worldly means.