Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 17
कलौ हीनायुषो मर्त्या दुर्बलाः श्रमपीडिताः । दुर्मेधसो दुःखभाजो धर्माचारविवर्जिताः
kalau hīnāyuṣo martyā durbalāḥ śramapīḍitāḥ | durmedhaso duḥkhabhājo dharmācāravivarjitāḥ
கலியுகத்தில் மனிதர் குறைந்த ஆயுள் உடையோர், பலஹீனர், உழைப்பால் துன்புறுவோர்; அறிவு மங்கியோர், துக்கத்தின் பங்காளிகள், தர்மாசாரமற்றோர் ஆவர்।
Bādarāyaṇa (Vyāsa) / Purāṇic narrator voice (contextual)
Scene: A procession of exhausted people carrying burdens, faces clouded; in the background a small lamp-lit kathā circle offers refuge and clarity, contrasting darkness and light.
FAQs
It diagnoses Kali Yuga’s spiritual and social weakness, setting the need for accessible dharma like Purāṇa-śravaṇa.
None; the verse provides Kali Yuga context rather than a site-specific māhātmya.
No direct ritual is prescribed here; it describes conditions that justify simpler, compassion-based spiritual means.