Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 41
ते संति साक्षिमो देवा अस्मिन्नर्थे वदत्वरम् । अर्थेऽस्मिन्भव साक्षी त्वं केतक्या सह सुव्रते
te saṃti sākṣimo devā asminnarthe vadatvaram | arthe'sminbhava sākṣī tvaṃ ketakyā saha suvrate
„Jene Götter sind Zeugen in dieser Sache—sprich rasch zu meiner Stütze. Und auch du sollst hierin Zeugin sein, o Tugendsame, zusammen mit der Ketakī.“
Brahmā (addressing Surabhī; Ketakī invoked as co-witness)
Tirtha: Kedāra-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Audience within the Skanda Purāṇa frame
Scene: Brahmā urgently instructs that the devas are witnesses and commands Ketakī to testify; Ketakī flower personified, standing beside Surabhī, poised to be brought forward.
FAQs
Dharma condemns manufacturing witnesses; truth is not established by numbers but by integrity.
Kedāra-kṣetra remains the setting; the episode supports the Shaiva Mahātmya by contrasting human-like schemes with Śiva’s omniscience.
None; it focuses on testimony and moral responsibility.