Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 21
निःस्नेहत्वं च विज्ञेयं धूर्तत्वं चैव तत्त्वतः । स्वस्त्रीणां चैव विज्ञेया दोषा नास्त्यत्र संशयः
niḥsnehatvaṃ ca vijñeyaṃ dhūrtatvaṃ caiva tattvataḥ | svastrīṇāṃ caiva vijñeyā doṣā nāstyatra saṃśayaḥ
Il faut reconnaître en vérité l’absence d’affection et aussi la tromperie; qu’on les comprenne comme des fautes, même chez les femmes de sa propre maison—sans aucun doute.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kedāra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Interlocutor/pilgrim audience (unspecified)
Scene: The speaker concludes firmly, emphasizing certainty; Bali appears caught—respectful yet ensnared—while the assembly’s desire conflicts with the warning.
FAQs
It advises clear discernment of character and faults—warning against coldness of affection and deceit—even within one’s own household, as part of practical Purāṇic dharma (nīti).
The verse occurs within the Kedārakhaṇḍa of the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, whose broader frame glorifies Kedāra/Kedārnātha as a Śaiva tīrtha, though this specific line is a moral instruction rather than direct tīrtha-praise.
No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as ethical guidance within the Kedāra narrative context.