Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 12
अथापश्यत्स वृद्धां स्त्रीं स्तोकसस्यसमन्विताम् । गच्छमानां तथा तेन श्रमेण महतान्विताम् । ततस्तत्सस्यमादाय वस्त्राणि च स निर्दयः । जगाम स्वगृहं हृष्टः पितृभ्यां च न्यवेदयत्
athāpaśyatsa vṛddhāṃ strīṃ stokasasyasamanvitām | gacchamānāṃ tathā tena śrameṇa mahatānvitām | tatastatsasyamādāya vastrāṇi ca sa nirdayaḥ | jagāma svagṛhaṃ hṛṣṭaḥ pitṛbhyāṃ ca nyavedayat
അപ്പോൾ അല്പം ധാന്യം ചുമന്ന്, മഹാശ്രമത്താൽ ക്ഷീണിച്ച് നടന്നു പോകുന്ന ഒരു വൃദ്ധസ്ത്രീയെ അവൻ കണ്ടു. പിന്നെ അവൻ നിർദയമായി അവളുടെ ധാന്യവും വസ്ത്രങ്ങളും എടുത്ത് സന്തോഷത്തോടെ സ്വന്തം വീട്ടിൽ ചെന്നു പിതാമാതാക്കൾക്ക് അറിയിച്ചു।
Narrator (specific speaker not stated in the provided excerpt)
Scene: On a dusty path, an elderly woman stooped under a small sack of grain; Lohajaṅgha seizes the sack and her garments; her hands reach out in shock; he turns away with grim resolve that shifts into misguided relief as he heads home.
FAQs
Need does not sanctify cruelty: taking from the helpless is adharma and becomes the seed of further downfall until corrected by holy association.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of the moral narrative that later connects to pilgrimage and sages.
None; the verse depicts wrongdoing (theft) rather than a rite.