Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 66
क्रियते खेचरत्वेन किंकिं धर्मं विनिश्चयैः । यतो न सिध्यते मोक्षो जाति स्मृत्यादिकं तथा
kriyate khecaratvena kiṃkiṃ dharmaṃ viniścayaiḥ | yato na sidhyate mokṣo jāti smṛtyādikaṃ tathā
Quel dharma, établi avec certitude, s’accomplit par le seul fait de « parcourir le ciel » ? Car par cela on n’obtient pas la délivrance (moksha), ni même le souvenir de sa naissance et autres choses semblables.
Preta(s) (departed spirits) addressing the king
Type: kshetra
Listener: king
Scene: A didactic exchange: the speaker questions what ‘certain dharma’ is achieved by sky-going, declaring it cannot grant mokṣa or even refined memory of births.
FAQs
Mere extraordinary states or powers do not yield mokṣa; liberation depends on dharma, right conduct, and purifying merits.
Not specified in this verse; it functions as doctrinal clarification within the tīrtha narrative.
No explicit prescription; the verse implicitly redirects focus from ‘powers’ to dharmic means (such as śrāddha, dāna, tīrtha-sevā).