Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 25
वज्रलेपस्य मूर्खस्य नारीणां कर्कटस्य च । एको ग्रहस्तु मीनानां नीलीमद्यपयोस्तथा
vajralepasya mūrkhasya nārīṇāṃ karkaṭasya ca | eko grahastu mīnānāṃ nīlīmadyapayostathā
“Bagi lapisan yang mengeras seperti vajra, bagi orang bodoh, bagi wanita, dan bagi ketam—dikatakan hanya ada satu ‘genggaman’ (sekali melekat sukar terlepas). Demikian juga bagi ikan, dan bagi nila, arak serta susu.”
Rajaka (contextual continuation of the washerman’s speech)
Type: kund
Scene: The washerman enumerates examples—hard coating, fool, women, crab, fish, indigo, liquor, milk—like a didactic tableau around him, while the pond’s glow contradicts his certainty.
FAQs
The verse reflects worldly maxims about what is considered ‘hard to change,’ setting contrast with the extraordinary power attributed to tīrthas.
Indirectly, the coming tīrtha is glorified by contrast—its power will overcome what is deemed unremovable or unchangeable.
None directly; it functions as a rhetorical claim about permanence (especially of dye) in the ongoing dialogue.