Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 27
सत्यहीनास्तथा पापा भविष्यंति कलौ युगे । तत्र षोडशमे वर्षे नराः पलितकुन्तलाः
satyahīnāstathā pāpā bhaviṣyaṃti kalau yuge | tatra ṣoḍaśame varṣe narāḥ palitakuntalāḥ
Dans le Kali Yuga, les hommes seront privés de vérité et portés au péché. Là, dès l’âge de seize ans, les hommes auront déjà les cheveux grisonnants.
Brahmā (contextual: Brahmā describing Kali-yuga conditions)
Scene: A striking image of youths with grey hair at sixteen, standing amid a morally dim landscape; elders look helpless as truth slips away like a fading lamp.
FAQs
It warns that abandoning satya (truthfulness) leads to accelerated suffering and degeneration in Kali Yuga, urging a return to dharma.
This verse sets up the Kali-yuga context; the chapter later directs refuge to Arbuda (Mount Arbuda) as a Kali-free sacred region.
No specific rite is prescribed here; it functions as a diagnostic description of Kali-yuga doṣas.