Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 54
षष्ठान्नकालभोज्यस्य व्रतचर्यारतस्य च । एवं तस्याऽपि संस्थस्य गतः कालो महान्मुने । न च तुष्यति देवेश स्ताभ्यां द्वाभ्यां कथञ्चन
ṣaṣṭhānnakālabhojyasya vratacaryāratasya ca | evaṃ tasyā'pi saṃsthasya gataḥ kālo mahānmune | na ca tuṣyati deveśa stābhyāṃ dvābhyāṃ kathañcana
اگرچہ وہ چھٹے کھانے کے وقت ہی غذا لیتا اور ورت و چریا کے آداب میں رَمَا رہتا تھا—اے مہامُنی—یوں تپسیا میں قائم رہتے ہوئے بہت زمانہ گزر گیا؛ پھر بھی دیویش صرف ان دونوں سے کسی طرح راضی نہ ہوا۔
Narrative voice addressing a sage-listener (“mune” indicates an interlocutor)
Type: kshetra
Listener: mahāmuni (addressed as ‘O great sage’)
Scene: A long passage of time shown through changing seasons around an ashram shrine; the ascetic maintains strict meal restraint and vrata discipline, yet the deity remains unmanifest, creating a quiet tension.
FAQs
Austerities and rules alone may not suffice; divine grace is won through fuller devotion and right inner disposition.
The Hāṭakeśvara-related tīrtha context continues; the verse highlights the intensity of practice within that sacred geography.
Vrata-caryā (vowed discipline) and severe dietary restraint (infrequent eating) are described.