Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 59
ततः प्रोचुः सुदुःखार्ताः किमिदं कुसुमायुध । निरुत्साहः समुत्पन्नः कुष्ठव्याधिसमाकुलः
tataḥ procuḥ suduḥkhārtāḥ kimidaṃ kusumāyudha | nirutsāhaḥ samutpannaḥ kuṣṭhavyādhisamākulaḥ
അപ്പോൾ അത്യന്തം ദുഃഖാർത്തരായി അവർ പറഞ്ഞു—“ഹേ കുസുമായുധാ! ഇതെന്താണ്? നിന്റെ ഉത്സാഹം ക്ഷയിച്ചു; നീ കുഷ്ഠരോഗം കൊണ്ട് വ്യാകുലനായിരിക്കുന്നു.”
Attendants/observers in the narrative (plural ‘they said’; exact identity not explicit in the snippet)
Tirtha: Kāmeśvarapura-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A circle of companions, faces drawn with sorrow, address Kāma: they point to his weakened posture and visible marks of leprosy, asking what has happened; the sacred town’s shrine looms behind.
FAQs
Suffering and bodily affliction in Purāṇas often signal karmic consequence and become the doorway to tīrtha-upāsanā (devotional practice at a sacred site).
The scene continues in Kāmeśvarapura, leading into the praise of a specific sacred water-reservoir (kuṇḍa/jalāśaya).
No direct prescription here; the verse introduces the condition (kuṣṭha) that will be addressed by worship and bathing later.