Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 40
अथ वांछति यो मोक्षं विरक्तो भवसागरात् । निष्कामस्तत्र संतुष्टस्तपस्तप्येत्सुबुद्धिमान्
atha vāṃchati yo mokṣaṃ virakto bhavasāgarāt | niṣkāmastatra saṃtuṣṭastapastapyetsubuddhimān
आणि जो मोक्षाची इच्छा करतो—भवसागरापासून विरक्त—तो निष्काम होऊन तेथे संतुष्ट राहून सुबुद्धीने तप करावा।
Sūta
Tirtha: तत्-क्षेत्र/पीठ (unnamed here)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/pilgrims
Scene: A renunciate pilgrim at the tīrtha: minimal possessions, seated in meditation or performing tapas under a tree/near a shrine; calm waters/quiet landscape symbolize the stilled ‘bhava-sāgara’.
FAQs
For mokṣa, the text prioritizes inner renunciation—desirelessness, contentment, and disciplined tapas—over merely seeking worldly gains.
The instruction applies to the tīrtha praised in this chapter of Nāgarakhaṇḍa; the verse does not identify it by name.
Tapas (austerity) grounded in vairāgya (detachment), niṣkāmatā (desirelessness), and santoṣa (contentment) at the sacred place.