Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 31
न त्रुटंत्यपि यत्नेन समाकृष्टानि तान्यपि । एतल्लेखापगातोयं तृषार्त्ता यदि यत्नतः । प्रपिबामो न हस्तेषु तच्च तोयं पुनः स्पृशेत्
na truṭaṃtyapi yatnena samākṛṣṭāni tānyapi | etallekhāpagātoyaṃ tṛṣārttā yadi yatnataḥ | prapibāmo na hasteṣu tacca toyaṃ punaḥ spṛśet
Même en nous acharnant à les tirer, ils ne se détachent pas. Et lorsque, tourmentés par la soif, nous tentons de boire l’eau de la rivière Lekhā, l’eau ne demeure pas dans nos mains : elle glisse, et nous la touchons encore en vain.
Pitṛs (ancestors), speaking collectively
Tirtha: Lekhā
Type: river
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame, not explicit here)
Scene: Pitṛs strain to pluck fruits that will not detach; then kneel at the Lekhā river, scooping water that slips through their hands like light, returning again and again in thirst.
FAQs
The Pitṛs’ inability to grasp food or water symbolizes that ancestral nourishment comes through prescribed dharma (śrāddha/tarpaṇa), not through independent consumption.
The snippet mentions the Lekhā river/stream; the broader tīrtha context is Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, though the exact pilgrimage site name is not fully specified here.
Implicitly, tarpaṇa (water-offerings) and śrāddha are indicated as the remedy for the Pitṛs’ thirst and deprivation.