Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 37
बालोऽधिपो यथा ग्रामे स्वेच्छया पीडयेज्जनान् । स्वैरमाक्रम्य गृह्णाति कोशवासांसि चासकृत्
bālo'dhipo yathā grāme svecchayā pīḍayejjanān | svairamākramya gṛhṇāti kośavāsāṃsi cāsakṛt
যেনেকৈ গাঁৱত কোনো বালক-অধিপতিয়ে স্বেচ্ছামতে লোকক পীড়া দিয়ে দম্ভেৰে ঘূৰি ফুৰে আৰু বাৰে বাৰে কোষ-ধন আৰু বস্ত্ৰ কেঢ়ি লয়—সেও তেনেকৈ আচৰণ কৰিলে।
Mārkaṇḍeya (narrating)
Listener: pārthiva-sattama (addressed king)
Scene: A swaggering, immature ruler-figure storms through a village, seizing cloth and treasury; townsfolk recoil in fear, women clutch garments, elders plead—an image of social dharma collapsing.
FAQs
Power without dharma becomes childish tyranny; righteous rule protects wealth, dignity, and peace rather than plundering them.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse offers a moral-political simile (rājadharma).
None.