Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 42
योर्थेन साध्यते धर्मः क्षयिष्णुः स प्रकीर्तितः । यः पुनस्तपसा साध्यः स मोक्षायेति मे मतिः
yorthena sādhyate dharmaḥ kṣayiṣṇuḥ sa prakīrtitaḥ | yaḥ punastapasā sādhyaḥ sa mokṣāyeti me matiḥ
جو دھرم دولت کے سہارے پورا کیا جائے وہ فنا پذیر کہا گیا ہے۔ مگر جو تپسیا سے سِدھ ہو، میرے نزدیک وہی موکش کی راہ ہے۔
Kaśyapa (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim-sage instructs that wealth-funded rites fade, while austere practice shines toward liberation; a contrast of a rich donor with attendants versus an ascetic in simple cloth, seated in contemplation near a tīrtha-bank.
FAQs
Merit dependent on wealth is unstable; tapas (austerity and self-restraint) is the surer path oriented toward mokṣa.
No single tirtha is named; the verse glorifies the inner discipline that makes any tirtha-visit spiritually effective.
Tapas is recommended as the superior means—practices of austerity, restraint, and renunciant discipline.