Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 49
श्रीसूर्य उवाच । तामसेन तु भावेन त्ववा सर्वमिदं कृतम् । तेन सर्वं वृथा जातं त्वया सर्वं च यत्कृतम्
śrīsūrya uvāca | tāmasena tu bhāvena tvavā sarvamidaṃ kṛtam | tena sarvaṃ vṛthā jātaṃ tvayā sarvaṃ ca yatkṛtam
श्रीसूर्य उवाच—तामसेन तु भावेन त्वया सर्वमिदं कृतम्। तेन सर्वं वृथा जातं, त्वया यच्च कृतं सर्वम्॥
Sūrya
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara Kṣetra (chapter context)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Puṣpa Brāhmaṇa (implied addressee)
Scene: Sūrya, radiant yet stern, addresses Puṣpa Brāhmaṇa with a corrective gaze; the human figure appears chastened, head bowed, as the moral weight of ‘tāmasa-bhāva’ is pronounced.
FAQs
Inner quality (bhāva/guṇa) governs the spiritual fruit of outer action; tamas cancels merit.
The admonition is embedded in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya narrative of Nāgara Khaṇḍa.
An implicit prescription: perform rites with sattvic intent and purity, not with tamasic disposition.
Read Skanda Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.