Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 87
न स्वभावात्सहस्राक्ष कथंचिदपि देहिनाम् । यास्यंति म्लेच्छभावं च सर्वे वर्णा द्विजातयः
na svabhāvātsahasrākṣa kathaṃcidapi dehinām | yāsyaṃti mlecchabhāvaṃ ca sarve varṇā dvijātayaḥ
اے سہسرآکش (اِندر)، یہ صرف فطرتِ ذاتی سے نہیں؛ کسی نہ کسی طرح جسم والے سبھی جاندار—تمام ورن، حتیٰ کہ دِوِج بھی—مَلیچھ جیسی حالت کی طرف بہہ جائیں گے۔
Unknown (addressing Indra, “Sahasrākṣa”; speaker not explicit in the snippet)
Listener: Sahasrākṣa (Indra)
Scene: Indra seated in Svarga listening to a seer’s warning; below, a panorama of society where even learned twice-born drift into coarse habits; a visual contrast between celestial order and earthly confusion.
FAQs
Dharma can erode across all social groups when conduct declines; spiritual vigilance is required regardless of birth or status.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse is part of a general Kali-yuga portrayal within a tīrtha-mahātmya chapter.
None explicitly; it is a prognostic statement about decline in conduct.