Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
अथासौ कलिनाविष्टो द्यूतं चक्रे महीपतिः । पुष्करेण समं विप्रा दायादेन दिवानिशम्
athāsau kalināviṣṭo dyūtaṃ cakre mahīpatiḥ | puṣkareṇa samaṃ viprā dāyādena divāniśam
Alors ce roi, saisi par Kali, se livra au jeu ; ô brāhmanes, jour et nuit il jouait avec Puṣkara, son parent.
Sūta
Listener: viprāḥ (explicit)
Scene: A tense dice-game scene: Nala and Puṣkara facing each other, dice on a cloth, shadowy presence of Kali behind Nala; anxious courtiers; night blending into day to show ‘divāniśam’.
FAQs
Unchecked vice, especially gambling, is portrayed as a doorway for Kali—leading even the virtuous into ruin when discernment is lost.
The immediate focus is narrative (Nala’s downfall) that frames the later sanctity of the Carmamuṇḍā Devī place within this Tīrthamāhātmya.
None; it warns through narrative example about the danger of dyūta (gambling).