Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36
जपं होमं व्रतं दानं स्वाध्यायं पितृतर्पणम् । कुर्वाणोथाश्रमभ्रष्टो नासौ तत्फलमाप्नुयात्
japaṃ homaṃ vrataṃ dānaṃ svādhyāyaṃ pitṛtarpaṇam | kurvāṇothāśramabhraṣṭo nāsau tatphalamāpnuyāt
Kahit magsagawa siya ng japa, homa, mga panata, pag-aalay ng dāna, svādhyāya, at pagtarpana sa mga ninuno—kung siya’y nalihis at nahulog mula sa kaniyang āśrama, hindi niya matatamo ang wastong bunga ng mga gawaing iyon.
Skanda
Scene: A practitioner performing japa and homa beside a riverbank, but a shadowed crack in the ritual circle symbolizes ‘āśrama-bhraṃśa’; a teacher points to a dharma-wheel showing that structure sustains fruit.
FAQs
Rituals gain power through right order and rightful living; dharma is the vessel that makes spiritual practice fruitful.
The Kāśī setting implies that even in the holiest place, practice must be grounded in dharmic discipline to bear full merit.
It lists key rites (japa, homa, vrata, dāna, svādhyāya, pitṛtarpaṇa) and states their fruits are lost if one is āśrama-bhraṣṭa.