Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
किमर्थं कुरुषे चौर्यं त्वं विप्रोऽसि सुनिर्घृणः । किं जितो व्यसनै रौद्रैः किं वा व्याधद्विजो भवान्
kimarthaṃ kuruṣe cauryaṃ tvaṃ vipro'si sunirghṛṇaḥ | kiṃ jito vyasanai raudraiḥ kiṃ vā vyādhadvijo bhavān
നീ എന്തിന് മോഷണം ചെയ്യുന്നു? നീ ബ്രാഹ്മണനല്ലേ, എങ്കിലും അത്യന്തം നിർദയൻ. ക്രൂരമായ വ്യസനങ്ങൾ നിന്നെ കീഴടക്കിയോ? അല്ലെങ്കിൽ നീ ‘വ്യാധ-ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ’ ആയോ?
Unspecified within the snippet (likely a righteous admonisher addressing a fallen brāhmaṇa in the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lohajaṃgha / Malimluca (the questioned figure; narrative indicates an identity to be clarified)
Scene: Sages sternly question a brāhmaṇa turned thief; their faces show compassion mixed with righteous indignation, while the accused stands tense and ashamed.
FAQs
It condemns theft and cruelty, warning that uncontrolled vices can make even a brāhmaṇa fall into hunter-like, adharma-driven conduct; true dharma requires compassion and self-restraint.
This verse occurs within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 124), but the specific tīrtha name is not stated in the single-verse excerpt provided.
No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as ethical admonition within a tīrtha-centered narrative.