Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
निवासमकरोत्तस्मिन्क्षेत्रे पुण्यतमे चिरम् । शीर्णपर्णफलाहारो भूमौ शेते सदा निशि । अन्य स्याऽन्यस्य वृक्षस्य मदाहंकारवर्जितः
nivāsamakarottasminkṣetre puṇyatame ciram | śīrṇaparṇaphalāhāro bhūmau śete sadā niśi | anya syā'nyasya vṛkṣasya madāhaṃkāravarjitaḥ
அவன் அந்த மிகப் புண்ணியமான க்ஷேத்திரத்தில் நீண்ட காலம் வாசம் செய்தான். உதிர்ந்த இலைகளும் கனிகளும் உணவாகக் கொண்டு, இரவில் எப்போதும் தரையில் படுத்தான்; ஒரு மரத்திலிருந்து மற்றொரு மரத்திற்குச் சென்று, மதமும் அகங்காரமும் இன்றித் திகழ்ந்தான்.
Sūta
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (Śaṅkhatīrtha cycle)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Purāṇic audience (not explicit)
Scene: The king lives like an ascetic in a sacred grove: eating fallen leaves and fruits, sleeping on bare earth, shifting from tree to tree, his royal identity subdued by humility.
FAQs
The fruit of a kṣetra is approached through humility and austerity; egolessness is portrayed as a key qualification for receiving tīrtha-prabhāva.
The verse praises a “most holy kṣetra” within the Hāṭakeśvara sacred geography; the specific focal tīrtha of the chapter is Śaṅkhatīrtha.
A lifestyle-vrata is implied: simple fallen-fruit diet, sleeping on the earth, and renunciation of pride during residence in a sacred place.