Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 20
अर्थार्थी जीव लोकोऽयं स्मशानमपि सेवते । जनितारमपि त्यक्त्वा निःस्वं यांति सुता अपि
arthārthī jīva loko'yaṃ smaśānamapi sevate | janitāramapi tyaktvā niḥsvaṃ yāṃti sutā api
ಧನಾಸೆಯಿಂದ ಈ ಜೀವಲೋಕ ಶ್ಮಶಾನವನ್ನೂ ಸೇವಿಸುತ್ತದೆ; ತಂದೆಯನ್ನು ಕೂಡ ತ್ಯಜಿಸಿ, ಅವನು ನಿರ್ಧನನಾದರೆ ಪುತ್ರರೂ ದೂರ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಾರೆ.
An unnamed renunciate/narrator within the Tīrthamāhātmya
Type: kshetra
Scene: A crowd searching for wealth in a cremation ground—scavenging, bargaining—while a penniless old father sits abandoned; sons walk away; in the distance a pilgrim lights a lamp and prays, symbolizing dharma as refuge.
FAQs
When relationships depend on money, they collapse with poverty; therefore one should seek refuge in dharma, not in artha.
No named tirtha appears in this verse; the cremation ground is used as an image of how far greed can drive people.
None; it is a social-spiritual admonition about greed and the unreliability of wealth-based bonds.
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