Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21
ततो निर्वेदमापन्नो भेषजैः क्लेशितश्चिरम् । क्षारैश्चाम्लैः कषायैश्च कटुकैरथ तिक्तकैः
tato nirvedamāpanno bheṣajaiḥ kleśitaściram | kṣāraiścāmlaiḥ kaṣāyaiśca kaṭukairatha tiktakaiḥ
मग तो औषधांनी दीर्घकाळ त्रस्त—क्षार, आम्ल, कषाय, कटु व तिक्त उपचारांनी क्लेशित होऊन—तो गाढ निर्वेदास प्राप्त झाला।
Narrator (within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya frame; exact speaker not explicit in the snippet)
Scene: A suffering pilgrim, weary from harsh medicines—alkaline, sour, astringent, pungent, bitter—sits in contemplation, turning away from jars and powders toward the idea of a sacred journey.
FAQs
Worldly measures can exhaust the seeker; disillusionment becomes the doorway to taking refuge in sacred worship and tīrtha-centered devotion.
The verse sits within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya stream; the immediate passage leads toward Muṇḍīrasvāmin and Sūrya worship in that sacred setting.
No ritual is prescribed here; it describes the failure/strain of medicinal treatments that motivates a turn to devotional observance.