Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44
न कदाचिद्व्रतं तेन न दत्तं न जपः कृतः । केवलं च हृतं वित्तं लोकानां छलसंश्रयात्
na kadācidvrataṃ tena na dattaṃ na japaḥ kṛtaḥ | kevalaṃ ca hṛtaṃ vittaṃ lokānāṃ chalasaṃśrayāt
Il n’observa jamais aucun vœu, ne fit point d’aumône, ni de récitation; au contraire, s’abritant derrière la ruse, il ne faisait que dépouiller les gens de leurs biens.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya; traditionally Sūta)
Tirtha: Naimiṣāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: assembled listeners (implied)
Scene: The hunter is shown refusing or ignoring acts of piety—no offerings, no prayer beads—while secretly taking others’ wealth, embodying the ‘anti-ritual’ life before the turning point.
FAQs
Neglect of vrata (discipline), dāna (charity), and japa (sacred repetition) weakens dharma; deceitful livelihood is explicitly censured.
Not named in this verse; it prepares the contrast for the later description of Śiva’s sacred abode where the vigil occurs.
Vrata, dāna, and japa are mentioned by negation—he did none of them—highlighting these as core Purāṇic practices.