Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 7
न लेभे किंचिदिष्टं वा स मंत्रं भेषजं च वा । तीर्थं वा नृपशार्दूलो येन स्याद्व्याधिसंक्षयः
na lebhe kiṃcidiṣṭaṃ vā sa maṃtraṃ bheṣajaṃ ca vā | tīrthaṃ vā nṛpaśārdūlo yena syādvyādhisaṃkṣayaḥ
Vị “hổ vương” giữa các bậc quân vương ấy chẳng tìm được điều gì như ý—không thần chú, không thuốc men, thậm chí cũng không một tīrtha—để bệnh tật có thể dứt hẳn.
Sūta
Tirtha: Śaṅkhatīrtha (within Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra narrative frame)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (typical frame; not stated here)
Scene: A diseased king, weary and despondent, surrounded by rejected scrolls of mantras and unused medicines, gazing toward a distant sacred landscape as hope shifts from courtly remedies to pilgrimage.
FAQs
Human effort may reach its limits; the Purāṇic path then directs one toward deeper surrender and the exceptional grace found in certain kṣetras and tīrthas.
No site is named here; the verse anticipates the later revelation of the effective tīrtha—Śaṅkhatīrtha.
None; it emphasizes the absence of a successful remedy so far (no mantra/bheṣaja/tīrtha found).