Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
ततो वैराग्यमापन्नः स नृपो द्विजसत्तमाः । पुत्रं राज्येऽथ संस्थाप्य वांछयामास पावकम् । निषिद्धोऽपि हि तैः सर्वैः कलत्रैराप्तसेवकैः
tato vairāgyamāpannaḥ sa nṛpo dvijasattamāḥ | putraṃ rājye'tha saṃsthāpya vāṃchayāmāsa pāvakam | niṣiddho'pi hi taiḥ sarvaiḥ kalatrairāptasevakaiḥ
پھر، اے بہترین دو بار جنم لینے والو، وہ بادشاہ ویراغیہ میں ڈوب گیا۔ اس نے اپنے بیٹے کو تخت پر بٹھا کر پاؤک—یعنی چتا کی آگ میں داخل ہونے—کی آرزو کی۔ اگرچہ بیویوں اور وفادار خادموں سمیت سب نے اسے روکا، پھر بھی اس کی چاہ باقی رہی۔
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa context; specific speaker not explicit in this excerpt)
Listener: dvija-sattamāḥ (addressed audience)
Scene: A diseased king, eyes fixed on a blazing fire, hands trembling; queens and loyal attendants restrain him as he installs his son—an intense moment of renunciation mixed with despair.
FAQs
Even royal power is impermanent; when suffering awakens vairāgya, one turns toward higher dharma rather than worldly attachment.
The excerpt sets up the narrative that will direct the king toward a disease-destroying tīrtha described later in this adhyāya.
No direct rite is prescribed here; it introduces renunciation and the king’s intention toward self-immolation, which is later redirected toward tīrtha-based healing.
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