Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 20
एतस्मिन्नंतरे भीताः सर्वे देवाः सवासवाः । दृष्ट्वा यज्ञक्रियोच्छेदं क्षुत्पिपासा समाकुलाः
etasminnaṃtare bhītāḥ sarve devāḥ savāsavāḥ | dṛṣṭvā yajñakriyocchedaṃ kṣutpipāsā samākulāḥ
اسی دوران اندرا سمیت سب دیوتا خوف زدہ ہو گئے۔ یَجْن کی رسموں کا خاتمہ دیکھ کر وہ بھوک اور پیاس سے بے قرار ہو اٹھے۔
Narrator (Purāṇic voice; contextually within Nāgara Khaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The devas, led by Indra, appear wan and anxious, their faces drawn by hunger and thirst, as sacrificial fires across the land are shown extinguished; the sky feels heavy, signaling ritual order broken.
FAQs
When dharmic rites like yajña decline, cosmic balance is disturbed; even the devas feel the resulting scarcity and seek divine remedy.
The passage is set in the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, moving toward the Hāṭakeśvara/Pādukā sacred context in the following verses.
No prescription yet—this verse establishes the crisis: the interruption of yajña (sacrificial ritual).