Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 12
अथापश्यत्स वृद्धां स्त्रीं स्तोकसस्यसमन्विताम् । गच्छमानां तथा तेन श्रमेण महतान्विताम् । ततस्तत्सस्यमादाय वस्त्राणि च स निर्दयः । जगाम स्वगृहं हृष्टः पितृभ्यां च न्यवेदयत्
athāpaśyatsa vṛddhāṃ strīṃ stokasasyasamanvitām | gacchamānāṃ tathā tena śrameṇa mahatānvitām | tatastatsasyamādāya vastrāṇi ca sa nirdayaḥ | jagāma svagṛhaṃ hṛṣṭaḥ pitṛbhyāṃ ca nyavedayat
ครั้นแล้วเขาเห็นหญิงชราคนหนึ่ง แบกธัญพืชเพียงเล็กน้อย เดินไปด้วยความอ่อนล้าอย่างยิ่ง เขาผู้ไร้เมตตาจึงฉวยเอาธัญพืชนั้นและผ้านุ่งห่มของนาง แล้วกลับเรือนตนด้วยความยินดี และบอกแก่บิดามารดา
Narrator (specific speaker not stated in the provided excerpt)
Scene: On a dusty path, an elderly woman stooped under a small sack of grain; Lohajaṅgha seizes the sack and her garments; her hands reach out in shock; he turns away with grim resolve that shifts into misguided relief as he heads home.
FAQs
Need does not sanctify cruelty: taking from the helpless is adharma and becomes the seed of further downfall until corrected by holy association.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of the moral narrative that later connects to pilgrimage and sages.
None; the verse depicts wrongdoing (theft) rather than a rite.