Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 33
वृथा भावि च तत्सर्वं यथा भस्महुतं तथा । या नारी सदसो मध्ये फलैस्त्वां पूजयिष्यति
vṛthā bhāvi ca tatsarvaṃ yathā bhasmahutaṃ tathā | yā nārī sadaso madhye phalaistvāṃ pūjayiṣyati
“Jika tidak, semuanya akan menjadi sia-sia—bagaikan persembahan dicurahkan ke dalam abu. Namun wanita yang, di tengah perhimpunan, akan memuja engkau dengan buah-buahan…”
Unspecified (continuing the same address; praising fruit-offering worship)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A didactic scene: the speaker contrasts a futile offering into ashes with the efficacious act of a woman worshipping in the assembly with fruits; the hall shows a homa-kuṇḍa with grey ash and, beside it, a fruit offering tray before the deity.
FAQs
Ritual without proper devotion and fitting worship is fruitless; sincere pūjā—even as simple as fruit offerings—makes the sacred act efficacious.
The setting is the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya assembly scene; the verse itself highlights the sanctity of worship within that tīrtha-context.
Pūjā with fruits (phala) performed publicly in the sacred assembly.