Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 24
व्याघ्र उवाच । किं वृथा रुद्यते धेनो मां प्राप्य न हि जीवितम् । विद्यते कस्यचिन्मूर्खे स्मरेष्टां देवतां ततः
vyāghra uvāca | kiṃ vṛthā rudyate dheno māṃ prāpya na hi jīvitam | vidyate kasyacinmūrkhe smareṣṭāṃ devatāṃ tataḥ
ব্যাঘ্র বলল—হে ধেনু, বৃথা কেন কাঁদছ? আমার কাছে এলে তোমার জীবন থাকবে না। হে মূঢ়ে, যদি কোনো ইষ্টদেবতা থাকে তবে তাকে স্মরণ কর।
Vyāghra (Tiger)
Tirtha: Arbuda (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The tiger speaks with harsh certainty, fangs visible, mocking the cow’s hope; the cow stands trembling yet attentive, the forest framing a moral confrontation.
FAQs
In mortality’s shadow, remembrance of one’s chosen deity and inner resolve become central—yet dharma must still be acted, not merely invoked.
No specific tīrtha is named; the Arbuda setting forms the sacred backdrop for the moral dialogue.
A mental act is implied: smaraṇa (remembrance) of one’s iṣṭa-devatā.