Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 31
अजोऽग्निर्वरुणो मेषः सूर्यश्च पृथिवी विराट् । धेनुर्वत्सश्च सोमो वै विक्रीयैतान्न सिध्यति
ajo'gnirvaruṇo meṣaḥ sūryaśca pṛthivī virāṭ | dhenurvatsaśca somo vai vikrīyaitānna sidhyati
बकरा, अग्नि, वरुण, मेष, सूर्य, पृथ्वी, विराट्, गौ और बछड़ा तथा सोम—इन पवित्र तत्त्वों को बेचकर कोई सिद्धि नहीं पाता।
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced: Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative mode)
Scene: A symbolic procession of deities and sacred principles—Agni as flame, Varuṇa with water-pot, Soma as lunar nectar, Sūrya radiant, Pṛthivī as goddess, Virāṭ as cosmic form—while a merchant’s act of ‘sale’ is shown as futile.
FAQs
Treat sacred life-sustainers and divine principles as non-commodities; profiting by selling them obstructs dharmic accomplishment.
No single tirtha is named in this verse; it teaches general Purāṇic dharma within the Kaumārikā-khaṇḍa context.
A prohibition/ethical rule is implied: do not sell what is dharmically sacred (especially the cow-calf and other sanctified entities).