Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 49
तस्मादल्पतपस्त्वाद्वै त्वं चाहं च महामते । प्राप्यापि राजसांनिध्यं राजलक्ष्म्या न भाजनम्
tasmādalpatapastvādvai tvaṃ cāhaṃ ca mahāmate | prāpyāpi rājasāṃnidhyaṃ rājalakṣmyā na bhājanam
અતએવ, હે મહામતિ, અલ્પ તપના કારણે તું અને હું—રાજસન્નિધ્ય પ્રાપ્ત કરીને પણ—રાજલક્ષ્મીના સાચા વૈભવના પાત્ર નથી.
Sunīti (addressing Dhruva)
Listener: Pilgrim-audience/ṛṣis in frame narrative (implicit)
Scene: A modest queen (Sunīti) speaks privately to young Dhruva in a palace interior, emphasizing their limited tapas and unfitness for royal fortune; subdued light, restrained gestures.
FAQs
Worldly rank alone does not confer true prosperity; inner merit gained through tapas is the real qualification.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it occurs within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s broader sacred narrative context of Kāśī.
No explicit rite is prescribed here; the emphasis is on tapas (austerity) as the spiritual cause of attainment.