Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 14
वर्द्धन्युवाच । तपसैव त्वया धर्म भयभीतो दिवस्पतिः । तेनाहं नोदिता चात्र तपोवि घ्नस्य कांक्षया
varddhanyuvāca | tapasaiva tvayā dharma bhayabhīto divaspatiḥ | tenāhaṃ noditā cātra tapovi ghnasya kāṃkṣayā
বর্দ্ধনী বলল—হে ধর্ম! তোমার তপস্যায় স্বর্গপতি ইন্দ্র ভীত হয়েছে। তাই তারই প্রেরণায় আমি এখানে এসেছি, তোমার তপস্যায় বিঘ্ন ঘটাতে ইচ্ছুক হয়ে।
Varddhanī
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dharma (identified later with Yama/Dharmarāja)
Scene: In a quiet forest hermitage, Dharma stands in austerity; Varddhanī approaches, confessing she has come to obstruct his tapas, with a faint aura of Indra’s anxiety behind her.
FAQs
Austerity generates spiritual power that can provoke tests and opposition; steadfastness in Dharma is implied as the proper response to such obstacles.
The narrative unfolds in Dharmāraṇya, treated as a potent sacred environment where tapas bears great fruit and attracts cosmic attention.
Tapas is central, and the verse highlights the concept of tapas-vighna (obstruction to austerity), not a specific ritual procedure.