Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 69
ब्रह्मोवाच । न यज्ञकर्मणा स्वर्गःस्वेन कायेन लभ्यते । मुक्त्वा देहांतरं ब्रह्मंस्तस्मान्मैवं वदस्व माम्
brahmovāca | na yajñakarmaṇā svargaḥsvena kāyena labhyate | muktvā dehāṃtaraṃ brahmaṃstasmānmaivaṃ vadasva mām
برہما نے کہا: “اپنے ہی جسم کو برقرار رکھتے ہوئے یَجْن کے عمل سے سُوَرگ حاصل نہیں ہوتا۔ جسم چھوڑ کر دوسرا جسم اختیار کرنے پر ہی وہ ملتا ہے؛ پس اے برہمن، مجھ سے یوں نہ کہو۔”
Brahmā
Listener: the petitioning sage (addressed as ‘brahman’)
Scene: Brahmā speaks with calm authority, correcting the sage: heaven cannot be gained by sacrifice while keeping the same body; one must leave the body and take another—therefore do not ask this of me.
FAQs
It asserts a normative cosmic rule: heavenly attainment follows the shedding of the present body; ritual alone is not meant to override that order.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse provides doctrinal context within a Tīrtha-māhātmya narrative.
It indirectly limits what yajña can accomplish, emphasizing the proper boundaries of ritual results.