Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
तेनोक्तं न स यज्ञोऽस्ति येन स्वर्गे प्रगम्यते । अनेनैव शरीरेण मुक्त्वा देहांतरं नृप
tenoktaṃ na sa yajño'sti yena svarge pragamyate | anenaiva śarīreṇa muktvā dehāṃtaraṃ nṛpa
അദ്ദേഹം എന്നോട് പറഞ്ഞു: ‘ഹേ നൃപാ! ഈ ശരീരത്തോടെയേ—ദേഹം ഉപേക്ഷിച്ച് മറ്റൊരു ദേഹം സ്വീകരിക്കാതെ—സ്വർഗത്തിൽ എത്തിക്കുന്ന യജ്ഞം ഒന്നുമില്ല.’
Triśaṅku (reporting Vasiṣṭha’s statement)
Scene: Vasiṣṭha calmly instructs Triśaṅku, gesturing toward the sacrificial altar as if to say ‘this cannot achieve that’; Triśaṅku’s face shows disappointment, foreshadowing his turn to Viśvāmitra.
FAQs
Purāṇic teaching stresses cosmic order: heavenly attainment normally follows death and transition, not bodily demand born of insistence.
No particular tirtha is named; the verse supports the chapter’s moral-theological backdrop within the Tīrthamāhātmya.
A yajña is discussed in principle, but the point is its limitation—such a rite is said not to exist for bodily ascent.