Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 80
यैर्वदवाक्यैस्त्वं मूढ संस्तुतोऽसि तपस्विभिः । ते मूढास्तो षयंति त्वां तत्तद्रागपरायणाः
yairvadavākyaistvaṃ mūḍha saṃstuto'si tapasvibhiḥ | te mūḍhāsto ṣayaṃti tvāṃ tattadrāgaparāyaṇāḥ
جن کھوکھلے لفظوں سے، اے گمراہ، تجھے تپسوی سراہتے ہیں—وہ گمراہ لوگ محض تجھے خوش کرنے کی کوشش کرتے ہیں، کبھی اس رغبت کے اور کبھی اس رغبت کے اسیر ہو کر۔
Unknown (Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative voice; admonitory speech within Kedāra context)
Tirtha: Kedāra/Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Scene: A group of ascetics offer exaggerated praise to a deva; their faces show craving and factional attachment; the true ascetic ideal is implied by a silent figure near the liṅga, detached and steady.
FAQs
Flattery—even from ‘ascetics’—can be driven by attachment; spiritual life requires sincerity and freedom from rāga.
Kedāra is the backdrop, but this verse addresses inner ethics rather than a site’s merit.
None; it critiques motivations behind praise and religious posturing.