Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 69
मर्त्यलोके सुरश्रेष्ठ नष्टा धर्मक्रिया भृशम् । कामासक्तो यतो लोकस्तांबूलस्य च भक्षणात् । तस्मात्कुरु प्रसादं नो येनास्माकं क्रिया भवेत्
martyaloke suraśreṣṭha naṣṭā dharmakriyā bhṛśam | kāmāsakto yato lokastāṃbūlasya ca bhakṣaṇāt | tasmātkuru prasādaṃ no yenāsmākaṃ kriyā bhavet
“Wahai yang terbaik antara para dewa, di alam manusia upacara dharma telah lenyap dengan hebat, kerana manusia menjadi terikat pada nafsu akibat mengunyah tāmbūla. Maka limpahkanlah rahmat kepada kami, agar upacara dan persembahan yang menjadi hak kami dapat berlangsung kembali.”
Devagaṇas (the gods), addressing Pitāmaha (Brahmā)
Listener: Pārthiva (king)
Scene: Devas addressing Brahmā with folded hands, describing the human world’s fall; a symbolic vignette shows people chewing tāmbūla while yajña fires die out.
FAQs
Addiction to pleasure (kāma) erodes dharma and disrupts the yajña-based harmony between humans and devas.
No single tīrtha is highlighted in this line; it frames a moral-cosmic problem within the Mahātmya narrative.
Restoration of dharmakriyā—especially yajña-related rites and offerings—is implied as the needed remedy.