Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
विना स्नानेन भक्षाच्च दैवाद्द्विजवरोत्तमाः । ततः काले व्यतिक्रांते कियन्मात्रे स्वकर्मतः । उभौ पंचत्वमापन्नौ पृथक्त्वेनायुषः क्षये
vinā snānena bhakṣācca daivāddvijavarottamāḥ | tataḥ kāle vyatikrāṃte kiyanmātre svakarmataḥ | ubhau paṃcatvamāpannau pṛthaktvenāyuṣaḥ kṣaye
โอ้ทวิชผู้ประเสริฐยิ่ง ทั้งสองมิได้อาบน้ำชำระและมิได้เสวยอาหาร—ด้วยอำนาจแห่งชะตา—ครั้นกาลล่วงไปตามกรรมของตน เมื่ออายุสิ้นสุด ต่างก็ถึงปัญจัตวะ (ความตาย) แยกจากกัน
Skanda (deduced from Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative style; vocative to dvijas suggests narration to sages/brāhmaṇas)
Listener: dvija-varottamāḥ (addressed audience of eminent brāhmaṇas)
Scene: Two individuals, weakened by fasting and lack of bathing, reach the end of life separately; the scene emphasizes the quiet inevitability of time and karma rather than violence.
FAQs
Even within sacred narratives, death is framed as karma-governed and time-bound; tīrtha-merit operates within the moral order (dharma) rather than denying mortality.
The verse belongs to a Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya episode about a potent tīrtha; the specific name is not present in this excerpt.
Snāna (bathing) and bhakṣa (taking food) are referenced negatively (‘without’), underscoring ascetic conditions around the episode rather than prescribing a rule here.