Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 35
अन्योन्यं मैथुनं चक्रुः कामबाणप्रपीडिताः । कुष्ठिनं व्याधितं वापि स्थविरं व्यंगमेव च । अप्येताः पुरुषाभावे मन्यंते पंचसायकम्
anyonyaṃ maithunaṃ cakruḥ kāmabāṇaprapīḍitāḥ | kuṣṭhinaṃ vyādhitaṃ vāpi sthaviraṃ vyaṃgameva ca | apyetāḥ puruṣābhāve manyaṃte paṃcasāyakam
Tourmentées par les flèches de Kāma, elles vont jusqu’à s’unir charnellement entre elles; ou bien avec un lépreux, un malade, un vieillard, même un infirme. En vérité, faute d’un homme convenable, elles tiennent encore l’Être aux Cinq Flèches (Kāma) pour irrésistible.
Garuḍa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Puruṣottama (Viṣṇu as addressee)
Scene: Garuḍa describes kāma’s arrows forcing people into degrading unions; the imagery is meant to repel and warn, not titillate—best rendered symbolically (Kāma with five arrows, minds ensnared).
FAQs
Uncontrolled desire degrades discernment; hence restraint and purity are upheld as higher dharma.
No site is named; the verse is a moral-psychological argument within the chapter’s larger sacred narrative.
None; it functions as a cautionary illustration against kāma.