Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
किमर्थं कुरुषे चौर्यं त्वं विप्रोऽसि सुनिर्घृणः । किं जितो व्यसनै रौद्रैः किं वा व्याधद्विजो भवान्
kimarthaṃ kuruṣe cauryaṃ tvaṃ vipro'si sunirghṛṇaḥ | kiṃ jito vyasanai raudraiḥ kiṃ vā vyādhadvijo bhavān
“เหตุใดท่านจึงลักขโมย? ท่านเป็นพราหมณ์แท้ แต่กลับไร้เมตตายิ่งนัก หรือท่านพ่ายแก่กิเลสอันดุร้าย? หรือท่านกลายเป็น ‘พราหมณ์นักล่า’ ผู้เลี้ยงชีพด้วยความโหดร้าย?”
Unspecified within the snippet (likely a righteous admonisher addressing a fallen brāhmaṇa in the Tīrthamāhātmya narrative)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lohajaṃgha / Malimluca (the questioned figure; narrative indicates an identity to be clarified)
Scene: Sages sternly question a brāhmaṇa turned thief; their faces show compassion mixed with righteous indignation, while the accused stands tense and ashamed.
FAQs
It condemns theft and cruelty, warning that uncontrolled vices can make even a brāhmaṇa fall into hunter-like, adharma-driven conduct; true dharma requires compassion and self-restraint.
This verse occurs within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 124), but the specific tīrtha name is not stated in the single-verse excerpt provided.
No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as ethical admonition within a tīrtha-centered narrative.