Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
विना स्नानेन भक्षाच्च दैवाद्द्विजवरोत्तमाः । ततः काले व्यतिक्रांते कियन्मात्रे स्वकर्मतः । उभौ पंचत्वमापन्नौ पृथक्त्वेनायुषः क्षये
vinā snānena bhakṣācca daivāddvijavarottamāḥ | tataḥ kāle vyatikrāṃte kiyanmātre svakarmataḥ | ubhau paṃcatvamāpannau pṛthaktvenāyuṣaḥ kṣaye
ഹേ ദ്വിജശ്രേഷ്ഠന്മാരേ, സ്നാനവും ആഹാരവും ഇല്ലാതെ ദൈവയോഗത്താൽ കുറെ കാലം കഴിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ, തങ്ങളുടെ തങ്ങളുടെ കർമ്മാനുസാരമായി ആയുസ്സ് ക്ഷയിച്ചതോടെ അവർ ഇരുവരും വേർവേറായി മരണത്തെ (പഞ്ചത്വത്തെ) പ്രാപിച്ചു।
Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style; vocative to dvijas suggests narration to sages/brāhmaṇas)
Listener: dvija-varottamāḥ (addressed audience of eminent brāhmaṇas)
Scene: Two individuals, weakened by fasting and lack of bathing, reach the end of life separately; the scene emphasizes the quiet inevitability of time and karma rather than violence.
FAQs
Even within sacred narratives, death is framed as karma-governed and time-bound; tīrtha-merit operates within the moral order (dharma) rather than denying mortality.
The verse belongs to a Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya episode about a potent tīrtha; the specific name is not present in this excerpt.
Snāna (bathing) and bhakṣa (taking food) are referenced negatively (‘without’), underscoring ascetic conditions around the episode rather than prescribing a rule here.