Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 51
अपि स्याच्छीतलो वह्निश्चंद्रमा दहनात्मकः । क्षाराब्दिरपि मिष्टः स्यान्न कामी लज्जते ध्रुवम्
api syācchītalo vahniścaṃdramā dahanātmakaḥ | kṣārābdirapi miṣṭaḥ syānna kāmī lajjate dhruvam
अग्नीही शीतल होईल, चंद्रही दाहक होईल, आणि खारासागरही गोड होईल—तरी कामांध मनुष्य निश्चयच लाजत नाही।
Unspecified (contextual speaker within Nāgara-khaṇḍa Tīrtha-māhātmya dialogue)
Scene: A didactic tableau: fire rendered cool (blue flames), the moon emitting heat (red halo), and the salt ocean turning sweet (lotus-filled waters), while a man driven by lust stands unashamed amid disapproving onlookers—symbolizing moral inversion greater than cosmic inversion.
FAQs
The verse stresses that lust hardens the conscience; without inner restraint, outer piety becomes hollow.
No site is named in this single verse; it serves as moral instruction within a pilgrimage-glorification section.
None; the emphasis is on internal reform (lajjā and control over kāma).