Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
अग्नित्यागो व्रतत्यागो वचनत्याग एव च । धर्मत्यागो नैव कार्यः कुर्वन्पतित एव हि
agnityāgo vratatyāgo vacanatyāga eva ca | dharmatyāgo naiva kāryaḥ kurvanpatita eva hi
مقدس آگنی کا ترک، ورتوں کا ترک، اور دیے ہوئے وعدے کا ترک بھی—ان میں سے کوئی بات دھرم کو ترک کرنے کا سبب نہ بنے؛ کیونکہ جو دھرم چھوڑتا ہے وہ یقیناً پَتِت ہے۔
Śiva (deduced from the continued didactic voice)
Scene: A householder’s sacred fire dimming, a broken vow-string, and a scroll of pledged word—yet a radiant figure labeled Dharma stands unbroken; the person turns back to Dharma with resolve.
FAQs
Ritual or vow failures do not justify giving up dharma; dharma-abandonment is the true fall.
No particular tīrtha is named in this verse; it supplies ethical guidance within the tīrtha-māhātmya narrative.
The verse references agni and vrata, but prescribes chiefly that dharma itself must never be abandoned.