Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 21
अग्निकार्यप्रवृत्तानां सर्वेषां विधिवन्नृप । केनापि हेतुना वह्निर्दृश्यते न ज्वलत्युत
agnikāryapravṛttānāṃ sarveṣāṃ vidhivannṛpa | kenāpi hetunā vahnirdṛśyate na jvalatyuta
Wahai raja, meskipun semua telah melaksanakan upacara api menurut tatacara yang benar, namun atas suatu sebab, Dewa Agni kelihatan tetapi tidak menyala marak.
Brāhmaṇas (continuing from previous verse)
Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (Narmadā tīrthas)
Type: kshetra
Listener: nṛpa (king)
Scene: A royal fire-hall: altar laid, priests poised, offerings ready; Agni is visible as a dim presence yet refuses to flare—smoke thin, embers dull—creating a tense stillness among priests and attendants.
FAQs
Formal correctness (vidhi) is not sufficient when the underlying moral-spiritual alignment is broken; the divine principle may withhold efficacy.
No tirtha is named; the emphasis is on ritual causality within the Revā-khaṇḍa narrative.
Reference to agni-kārya performed vidhivat (according to rule), but without detailing the procedure.