Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 21
न मंत्रौषधयः सर्वे नाभिचारा न लौकिकाः । न कर्माणि न वेदाश्च न मीमांसाद्वयं तथा
na maṃtrauṣadhayaḥ sarve nābhicārā na laukikāḥ | na karmāṇi na vedāśca na mīmāṃsādvayaṃ tathā
มิใช่มนตร์และโอสถทั้งปวง มิใช่อภิชารหรืออุบายทางโลก; มิใช่พิธีกรรม มิใช่แม้พระเวท และมิใช่มีมางสาทั้งสอง—สิ่งเหล่านี้ลำพังย่อมไม่อาจบรรลุได้
Bṛhaspati
Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devas/Indra-context audience (implied by subsequent verse)
Scene: A Himalayan shrine setting: ascetics and pilgrims before Kedāra; symbolic rejection of ritual paraphernalia as ‘insufficient alone’—scrolls, herbs, yantras set aside—while a serene Śiva-presence is implied through light/linga/peak.
FAQs
Techniques, rituals, and learning are insufficient without the deeper inner approach implied in the surrounding verses (devotion and peace).
The Kedāra setting frames the teaching, but this verse is a general theological statement.
No prescription; rather, it relativizes ritual and scholastic methods when pursued alone.