Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 21
इंद्र उवाच । मैवं ब्रूहि महाभाग त्वां विनाकः पुमान्भुवि । धर्ममर्थं तथा कामं मोक्षं वा प्राप्तुमीश्वरः
iṃdra uvāca | maivaṃ brūhi mahābhāga tvāṃ vinākaḥ pumānbhuvi | dharmamarthaṃ tathā kāmaṃ mokṣaṃ vā prāptumīśvaraḥ
Indra dit : «Ô toi, grandement fortuné, ne parle pas ainsi. Sans toi, qui sur terre serait capable d’atteindre le dharma, l’artha, le kāma, ou même la mokṣa ?»
Indra
Listener: Kāma (implied addressee)
Scene: Indra addresses Kāma with reassurance; behind them symbolic emblems of the four puruṣārthas appear—dharma (scale or śāstra), artha (treasure), kāma (flowered bow), mokṣa (lotus/ascending light).
FAQs
Even desire, when rightly oriented, can function within the puruṣārtha framework; it is not dismissed as meaningless in human life.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the passage is doctrinal, within the Himālaya/Śiva-āśrama narrative context of the chapter.
None in this verse; it is a theological assertion in dialogue form.