Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 69
राज्यं हि बहु मन्यंते नरा विषयलोलुपाः । मनीषिणस्तु पश्यन्ति तदेव नरकोपमम्
rājyaṃ hi bahu manyaṃte narā viṣayalolupāḥ | manīṣiṇastu paśyanti tadeva narakopamam
വിഷയലോലുപരായവർ രാജത്വത്തെ അത്യന്തം മഹത്തായി കരുതുന്നു; എന്നാൽ മनीഷികൾ അതേ രാജത്വത്തെ നരകസമാനമായി കാണുന്നു (അത് തൃഷ്ണയും അഹങ്കാരവും വളർത്തുമ്പോൾ)।
Unspecified (a sage/counsellor addressing the king, within Īśvara’s narration context)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Māhātmya audience
Scene: Split-vision: on one side, men gaze longingly at a throne and pleasures; on the other, a sage sees the same throne casting a shadow shaped like naraka—an image of discernment.
FAQs
The same power that worldly people admire can become torment if driven by craving; wisdom is to see through its temptations.
The verse sits in the Prabhāsa sacred-region narrative, where visiting and worship cultivate discernment and restraint.
No explicit rite; the implied practice is sense-control and detachment as part of dharmic living.