Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 16
कुलधर्माञ्ज्ञातिधर्मान्देशधर्मान्महेश्वर । ये त्यजंति च तेऽवश्यं कुलाच्च पतिता जनाः
kuladharmāñjñātidharmāndeśadharmānmaheśvara | ye tyajaṃti ca te'vaśyaṃ kulācca patitā janāḥ
اے مہیشور! جو لوگ کُلی دھرم، رشتہ داروں کے دھرم اور دیس کے دھرم کو ترک کرتے ہیں، وہ لازماً پَتِت ہو جاتے ہیں—اپنی ہی برادری سے بھی گِر جاتے ہیں۔
A devotee/interlocutor addressing Śiva as “Maheśvara” (deduced from direct vocative)
Scene: A devotee speaks with folded hands to Maheśvara; behind them are three symbolic circles labeled kula, jñāti, deśa—like protective mandalas; outside lies a shadowed exile representing ‘kula-patana’.
FAQs
Spiritual life includes honoring one’s inherited, kin-based, and regional dharmas; rejecting them leads to social and moral fall.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it supports the dharma frame surrounding tīrtha glorification.
None; the verse stresses adherence to multiple layers of dharma (family, kin, regional).