Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 59
वामः कामो मनुष्येषु सत्यमेतद्वचो यतः । स्पृहणीयासि सर्वेषामेवं पीडयसे वपुः
vāmaḥ kāmo manuṣyeṣu satyametadvaco yataḥ | spṛhaṇīyāsi sarveṣāmevaṃ pīḍayase vapuḥ
मनुष्यों में कामना वक्र ही होती है—यह वचन निश्चय ही सत्य है; क्योंकि सबके द्वारा चाही जाकर भी तुम इस प्रकार अपने शरीर को कष्ट देती हो।
Brahmacārin/Vratī (ascetic) addressing Pārvatī
Listener: Pārvatī (addressed)
Scene: A speaker admonishes Pārvatī: the world calls desire perverse; the maiden’s austerity is shown as bodily emaciation, contrasted with an unseen but implied Śiva beyond social norms.
FAQs
Worldly desire is unstable and contradictory; true spiritual resolve may reject even what the world prizes.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse is moral-psychological reflection within the narrative.
None explicitly; it contrasts worldly attraction with ascetic self-discipline.