Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 59
वामः कामो मनुष्येषु सत्यमेतद्वचो यतः । स्पृहणीयासि सर्वेषामेवं पीडयसे वपुः
vāmaḥ kāmo manuṣyeṣu satyametadvaco yataḥ | spṛhaṇīyāsi sarveṣāmevaṃ pīḍayase vapuḥ
انسانوں میں خواہش ٹیڑھی ہے—یہ بات بے شک سچ ہے؛ کہ تو سب کی مطلوبہ ہے، پھر بھی اسی طرح اپنے جسم کو عذاب دیتی ہے۔
Brahmacārin/Vratī (ascetic) addressing Pārvatī
Listener: Pārvatī (addressed)
Scene: A speaker admonishes Pārvatī: the world calls desire perverse; the maiden’s austerity is shown as bodily emaciation, contrasted with an unseen but implied Śiva beyond social norms.
FAQs
Worldly desire is unstable and contradictory; true spiritual resolve may reject even what the world prizes.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse is moral-psychological reflection within the narrative.
None explicitly; it contrasts worldly attraction with ascetic self-discipline.