Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 10
तस्मान्मया विनाप्याशु नागैश्चैव नरैस्तथा । तपः शक्त्या प्रकर्तव्यं राज्यं निहतकण्टकम्
tasmānmayā vināpyāśu nāgaiścaiva naraistathā | tapaḥ śaktyā prakartavyaṃ rājyaṃ nihatakaṇṭakam
അതുകൊണ്ട്, എന്നില്ലാതെയും നാഗന്മാരും മനുഷ്യരും വേഗത്തിൽ തപഃശക്തിയാൽ കണ്ഠകരഹിതമായ രാജ്യം സ്ഥാപിക്കട്ടെ—പീഡകരും വിഘ്നങ്ങളും ഇല്ലാത്തത്।
A king/ruler (speaker not explicitly named in this snippet)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Nāgas (serpent-hooded divine beings) and humans performing austerities near a sacred grove/riverbank; from their tapas arises a radiant, orderly kingdom—fort gates open to pilgrims, thorns/bandits symbolically burned away.
FAQs
Tapas (disciplined spiritual power) is presented as a force that can restore dharmic order and remove societal ‘thorns’.
No tīrtha is named yet; the verse emphasizes tapas as the means before the tīrtha is identified later.
Tapas is prescribed broadly (austerity/discipline), without a specific vow, bath, or donation detailed here.