Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
ततो वैराग्यमापन्नः स नृपो द्विजसत्तमाः । पुत्रं राज्येऽथ संस्थाप्य वांछयामास पावकम् । निषिद्धोऽपि हि तैः सर्वैः कलत्रैराप्तसेवकैः
tato vairāgyamāpannaḥ sa nṛpo dvijasattamāḥ | putraṃ rājye'tha saṃsthāpya vāṃchayāmāsa pāvakam | niṣiddho'pi hi taiḥ sarvaiḥ kalatrairāptasevakaiḥ
അപ്പോൾ, ഹേ ദ്വിജശ്രേഷ്ഠന്മാരേ, ആ രാജാവ് വൈരാഗ്യം പ്രാപിച്ചു. പുത്രനെ രാജസിംഹാസനത്തിൽ സ്ഥാപിച്ച്, പാവകത്തിൽ പ്രവേശിക്കുവാൻ ആഗ്രഹിച്ചു. ഭാര്യമാരും ആത്മസേവകരും എല്ലാവരും വിലക്കിയിട്ടും അവന്റെ ആഗ്രഹം ശമിച്ചില്ല.
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa context; specific speaker not explicit in this excerpt)
Listener: dvija-sattamāḥ (addressed audience)
Scene: A diseased king, eyes fixed on a blazing fire, hands trembling; queens and loyal attendants restrain him as he installs his son—an intense moment of renunciation mixed with despair.
FAQs
Even royal power is impermanent; when suffering awakens vairāgya, one turns toward higher dharma rather than worldly attachment.
The excerpt sets up the narrative that will direct the king toward a disease-destroying tīrtha described later in this adhyāya.
No direct rite is prescribed here; it introduces renunciation and the king’s intention toward self-immolation, which is later redirected toward tīrtha-based healing.