Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 33
आशा हि परमं दुःखं निराशा परमं सुखम् । आशानिराशां कृत्वा च सुखं स्वपिति पिंगला
āśā hi paramaṃ duḥkhaṃ nirāśā paramaṃ sukham | āśānirāśāṃ kṛtvā ca sukhaṃ svapiti piṃgalā
L’espérance, en vérité, est la plus grande douleur ; l’absence d’espérance (la liberté de l’attente) est la félicité suprême. Ayant rendu son cœur libre d’espérance et d’attente, Piṅgalā dort heureuse.
Unspecified narrator (contextual narration within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya)
Scene: Piṅgalā, formerly restless, now sits calmly in a simple room; her face serene, eyes half-closed; the atmosphere shifts from tension to quiet contentment as she lies down and sleeps peacefully.
FAQs
Inner peace arises from relinquishing expectation; hope that clings becomes suffering, while detachment becomes happiness.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the teaching is ethical and contemplative within a Tīrthamāhātmya chapter.
No ritual is prescribed; the instruction is an inner discipline—renunciation of expectation (vairāgya).