Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 61
वर्षंति जलदाः कामं भवन्त्योषधयोऽखिलाः । यत्किंचिद्भूतले ज्ञानं शास्त्रं वा सुरसत्तम । तत्तत्र समभावेन न सत्यं नैव चानृतम्
varṣaṃti jaladāḥ kāmaṃ bhavantyoṣadhayo'khilāḥ | yatkiṃcidbhūtale jñānaṃ śāstraṃ vā surasattama | tattatra samabhāvena na satyaṃ naiva cānṛtam
மேகங்கள் விருப்பம்போல் மழை பொழிகின்றன; எல்லா மூலிகைகளும் செழித்து வளரும். தேவர்களில் சிறந்தவரே! பூமியில் உள்ள எந்த அறிவோ, சாஸ்திரமோ அங்கே சமநிலையால் அது முழுச் சத்தியமுமல்ல, முழுப் பொய்யுமல்ல।
Skanda (deduced)
Listener: surasattama / surādhīśa (best/lord of the gods—typically Indra in such address)
Scene: A cosmic tableau: monsoon clouds releasing measured rain over a verdant earth of medicinal herbs, while sages debate in a hall where scrolls and śāstras glow with mixed light—half luminous, half shadowed—signifying ‘neither true nor untrue’.
FAQs
It characterizes Dvāpara as balanced and mixed: nature can still be favorable, yet knowledge and discourse are no longer purely aligned with truth.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it supports the chapter’s broader māhātmya discourse through yuga characterization.
None explicitly; the focus is on cosmological and epistemic conditions rather than ritual action.