Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 53
भक्तिग्राह्यास्ततो देवास्तुष्टास्तस्य महात्मनः । तदहं वालुकाभिश्च पूजयामि हरप्रियाम्
bhaktigrāhyāstato devāstuṣṭāstasya mahātmanaḥ | tadahaṃ vālukābhiśca pūjayāmi harapriyām
เหล่าเทพผู้ทรงรับได้ด้วยภักติย่อมพอพระทัยในมหาตมะผู้นั้น. ฉะนั้นข้าพเจ้าจึงบูชาเทวีผู้เป็นที่รักของหระ ด้วยเครื่องสักการะเป็นทราย.
Unspecified narrator (devotee speaking within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa narrative)
Tirtha: Harapriyā-devī-sthāna (unnamed in verse)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A devotee kneels on sand, forming a small sand-maṇḍala/linga-like mound or Devī-pīṭha, offering handfuls of sand with folded hands; a radiant Devī presence (Harapriyā) appears subtly, indicating acceptance.
FAQs
Devotion is the true offering; the divine accepts even the simplest substances when offered with faith.
The setting is a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter of Nāgarakhaṇḍa; the shloka emphasizes the principle of worship rather than naming the locale.
Pūjā of Harapriyā (the Goddess) using sand as the offering/substitute material.