Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
तैः प्रसूता मखा ध्वस्ता दीक्षिता विनिपातिताः । ऋत्विजश्च तथान्येऽपि सामान्या द्विजसत्तमाः
taiḥ prasūtā makhā dhvastā dīkṣitā vinipātitāḥ | ṛtvijaśca tathānye'pi sāmānyā dvijasattamāḥ
Par eux, les sacrifices furent ruinés ; les initiés furent abattus. Les prêtres officiants et d'autres nobles brahmanes furent également anéantis.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced from Purāṇic narration style in Māhātmya contexts when explicit speaker is not in the snippet)
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijasattama (addressed explicitly in this verse)
Scene: A yajña altar overturned, sacred vessels scattered, dīkṣitas fallen with sacred threads visible, ṛtvijas struck; smoke and extinguished fire symbolize broken rite.
FAQs
It condemns adharma that disrupts yajña and harms the initiated and priests, underscoring the Purāṇic duty to protect sacred rites and the dharmic order they sustain.
This verse is part of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya narrative framework; the specific tīrtha name is not stated in this single śloka and requires the surrounding verses of Adhyāya 35 for precise identification.
No direct prescription (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) appears in this verse; it describes the violation of ritual order through the destruction of sacrifices and the falling of dīkṣitas and ṛtviks.