Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
हाहाकारस्ततौ जज्ञे समस्ते यज्ञमण्डपे । दृष्ट्वा कपालसंघांस्तान्यज्ञ कर्मप्रदूषकान्
hāhākārastatau jajñe samaste yajñamaṇḍape | dṛṣṭvā kapālasaṃghāṃstānyajña karmapradūṣakān
ครั้นเห็นหมู่กะโหลกเหล่านั้นซึ่งทำให้กิจแห่งยัญญะมัวหมอง เสียงโกลาหลคร่ำครวญก็กระจายไปทั่วมณฑปยัญญะทั้งสิ้น
Unspecified narrator (within Sūta’s ongoing narration)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The entire pavilion erupts in ‘hāhākāra’: priests and attendees raise hands, some step back from the skull heaps; the yajña fire flickers as the ritual order collapses into alarm.
FAQs
Ritual dharma is communal and sensitive; when sacred action is polluted, the entire assembly is shaken, prompting a turn toward remedy and right order.
The verse centers on the yajña-maṇḍapa in the chapter’s tīrtha narrative; it does not name the place directly.
No explicit prescription here; it identifies the kapālas as 'defilers of yajña-work,' setting up the need for corrective measures.