Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 43
तच्छ्रुत्वा कोपमापन्नः स राजा शप्तुमुद्यतः । वसिष्ठं स्वकरे कृत्वा जलं सौदासभूपतिः । शापोद्यतं च तं दृष्ट्वा नारदो वाक्यमब्रवीत्
tacchrutvā kopamāpannaḥ sa rājā śaptumudyataḥ | vasiṣṭhaṃ svakare kṛtvā jalaṃ saudāsabhūpatiḥ | śāpodyataṃ ca taṃ dṛṣṭvā nārado vākyamabravīt
فلما سمع ذلك استولى الغضب على الملك وهمَّ أن يُطلق لعنة. وكان الملك سَوْداسا قابضًا الماء في يده، مستحضرًا فاسيشثا في قلبه، قائمًا على أهبة اللعن؛ فلما رآه نارَدَةُ مُتهيِّئًا قال له كلامًا.
Narrator (contextual: Purāṇic narrator; Nārada speaks at the end of the verse)
Scene: King Saudāsa, furious, holds water in his palm, mentally invoking Vasiṣṭha, ready to curse; Nārada urgently addresses him to stop or redirect the act.
FAQs
Anger can push even rulers toward grave adharma; timely counsel from sages restrains destructive speech and action.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of the chapter’s narrative setting within Tīrthamāhātmya.
The verse alludes to the ritual act of taking water in hand as a formal prelude to pronouncing a curse.