Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 70
अग्निरुवाच ममातृप्तस्य लोकेश तावद्द्वादशवत्सरान् । क्षुत्पीडासंवृते मर्त्ये न प्राप्तं कुत्रचिद्धविः
agniruvāca mamātṛptasya lokeśa tāvaddvādaśavatsarān | kṣutpīḍāsaṃvṛte martye na prāptaṃ kutraciddhaviḥ
Agni bersabda: “Wahai Tuhan sekalian alam, bagi aku yang masih tidak terpuaskan, selama dua belas tahun di alam manusia yang ditindih dan dikepung kelaparan, tiada satu pun havis (persembahan korban) sampai kepadaku di mana-mana.”
Agni
Tirtha: Vahnitīrtha (contextual frame)
Type: kund
Listener: Lord of the worlds (Lokēśa; in this episode’s flow, likely Brahmā)
Scene: Agni speaks with a subdued flame-body, expressing hunger and deprivation over twelve years; the mortal world appears dry and strained, with empty altars and cold hearths, underscoring the absence of havis.
FAQs
When yajña and dharmic offerings decline, cosmic balance is disturbed; ritual responsibility sustains both gods and society.
Still within the Vahnitīrtha narrative arc, though this verse focuses on Agni’s deprivation rather than the site directly.
Implicitly, the necessity of havis (oblations) through yajña/agnihotra; the verse laments their absence.