Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 21
इंद्र उवाच । मैवं ब्रूहि महाभाग त्वां विनाकः पुमान्भुवि । धर्ममर्थं तथा कामं मोक्षं वा प्राप्तुमीश्वरः
iṃdra uvāca | maivaṃ brūhi mahābhāga tvāṃ vinākaḥ pumānbhuvi | dharmamarthaṃ tathā kāmaṃ mokṣaṃ vā prāptumīśvaraḥ
इन्द्र बोले—हे महाभाग, ऐसा मत कहो। तुम्हारे बिना पृथ्वी पर कौन पुरुष धर्म, अर्थ, काम या मोक्ष तक प्राप्त करने में समर्थ होगा?
Indra
Listener: Kāma (implied addressee)
Scene: Indra addresses Kāma with reassurance; behind them symbolic emblems of the four puruṣārthas appear—dharma (scale or śāstra), artha (treasure), kāma (flowered bow), mokṣa (lotus/ascending light).
FAQs
Even desire, when rightly oriented, can function within the puruṣārtha framework; it is not dismissed as meaningless in human life.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the passage is doctrinal, within the Himālaya/Śiva-āśrama narrative context of the chapter.
None in this verse; it is a theological assertion in dialogue form.