Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 54
षष्ठान्नकालभोज्यस्य व्रतचर्यारतस्य च । एवं तस्याऽपि संस्थस्य गतः कालो महान्मुने । न च तुष्यति देवेश स्ताभ्यां द्वाभ्यां कथञ्चन
ṣaṣṭhānnakālabhojyasya vratacaryāratasya ca | evaṃ tasyā'pi saṃsthasya gataḥ kālo mahānmune | na ca tuṣyati deveśa stābhyāṃ dvābhyāṃ kathañcana
Bien qu’il ne prît nourriture qu’au sixième moment du repas et qu’il se complût dans la discipline des vœux et de la conduite—ainsi, ô grand sage, un long temps s’écoula tandis qu’il demeurait dans l’austérité ; pourtant, le Seigneur des dieux ne fut en aucune manière satisfait par ces deux seules choses.
Narrative voice addressing a sage-listener (“mune” indicates an interlocutor)
Type: kshetra
Listener: mahāmuni (addressed as ‘O great sage’)
Scene: A long passage of time shown through changing seasons around an ashram shrine; the ascetic maintains strict meal restraint and vrata discipline, yet the deity remains unmanifest, creating a quiet tension.
FAQs
Austerities and rules alone may not suffice; divine grace is won through fuller devotion and right inner disposition.
The Hāṭakeśvara-related tīrtha context continues; the verse highlights the intensity of practice within that sacred geography.
Vrata-caryā (vowed discipline) and severe dietary restraint (infrequent eating) are described.