Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 40
भोक्ष्यंते म्लेच्छकग्रामान्कोलाविध्वंसिभिः किल । वेदभ्रष्टाश्च ते विप्रा भविष्यंति कलौ युगे
bhokṣyaṃte mlecchakagrāmānkolāvidhvaṃsibhiḥ kila | vedabhraṣṭāśca te viprā bhaviṣyaṃti kalau yuge
کلی یُگ میں، کولوں کو نیست کرنے والے یقیناً مِلِیچھوں کے گاؤں ہڑپ کر لیں گے؛ اور اسی تاریک عہد میں وہ برہمن وید سے بھٹک کر ساقط ہو جائیں گے۔
Vyāsa (contextual—continuing the dialogue in this adhyāya)
Listener: nṛpātmaja (a prince; explicit in nearby verse 40.44)
Scene: A darkening age: villages under threat, learned men with loosened sacred threads and neglected fire-rites; a distant sage-figure (Vyāsa) foretelling decline.
FAQs
It warns that when dharma weakens in Kali-yuga, even those of sacred status may fall from Vedic discipline; vigilance in conduct is essential.
The broader setting is Dharmāraṇya, a sanctified forest-region praised in this section, though this verse itself is more prophetic than descriptive.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it functions as a foretelling about social and religious decline.