Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
किमर्थं कुरुषे चौर्यं त्वं विप्रोऽसि सुनिर्घृणः । किं जितो व्यसनै रौद्रैः किं वा व्याधद्विजो भवान्
kimarthaṃ kuruṣe cauryaṃ tvaṃ vipro'si sunirghṛṇaḥ | kiṃ jito vyasanai raudraiḥ kiṃ vā vyādhadvijo bhavān
“Mengapa engkau melakukan kecurian? Engkau seorang brāhmaṇa, namun langsung tiada belas kasihan. Adakah engkau telah ditundukkan oleh nafsu dan keburukan yang ganas? Atau engkau menjadi ‘pemburu-brāhmaṇa’—brāhmaṇa yang hidup dengan kekejaman seorang pemburu?”
Unspecified within the snippet (likely a righteous admonisher addressing a fallen brāhmaṇa in the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lohajaṃgha / Malimluca (the questioned figure; narrative indicates an identity to be clarified)
Scene: Sages sternly question a brāhmaṇa turned thief; their faces show compassion mixed with righteous indignation, while the accused stands tense and ashamed.
FAQs
It condemns theft and cruelty, warning that uncontrolled vices can make even a brāhmaṇa fall into hunter-like, adharma-driven conduct; true dharma requires compassion and self-restraint.
This verse occurs within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 124), but the specific tīrtha name is not stated in the single-verse excerpt provided.
No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as ethical admonition within a tīrtha-centered narrative.