Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 18
क्षात्त्रस्यायं परो धर्मः क्षताद्यत्परिरक्षणम् । तस्मात्कुलोचिते धर्मे नष्टे त्वज्जीवितेन किम्
kṣāttrasyāyaṃ paro dharmaḥ kṣatādyatparirakṣaṇam | tasmātkulocite dharme naṣṭe tvajjīvitena kim
ক্ষত্ৰিয়ৰ এইটোৱেই পৰম ধৰ্ম যে তেওঁ আঘাতপ্ৰাপ্ত আৰু দুৰ্গতসকলক ৰক্ষা কৰিব। সেয়েহে, যদি আপোনাৰ বংশৰ উচিত ধৰ্মই নষ্ট হৈ গৈছে, তেন্তে আপোনাৰ জীৱনৰ কি মূল্য আছে?
A woman (queen/consort) articulating kṣatriya-dharma to the king
Listener: राजा (addressed)
Scene: Didactic tableau: a counselor/queen/elder instructs a king; behind them, a wounded person is being tended—visualizing ‘kṣatādya-parirakṣaṇam’.
FAQs
For rulers, dharma is protection; without it, life and status lose meaning.
No tīrtha appears; this is a dharma-definition verse.
None; it prescribes ethical duty rather than a rite.