Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 38
तपस्विनां परीक्षायै यदृषीणां विहिंसनम् । कृतं तेन तदा विप्रा रावणेन तपस्विना
tapasvināṃ parīkṣāyai yadṛṣīṇāṃ vihiṃsanam | kṛtaṃ tena tadā viprā rāvaṇena tapasvinā
O Brahmanen, jede Verletzung, die er damals den ṛṣi zufügte, tat der Asket Rāvaṇa als eine „Prüfung“ der Askese heiliger Männer.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Kedāra (ethical frame for pilgrims)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Viprāḥ/Brāhmaṇas explicitly addressed in verse
Scene: Rāvaṇa, though an ascetic by practice, injures sages under the pretext of ‘testing’ them; the scene carries moral gravity—sages in distress, dharma violated.
FAQs
Austerity without compassion can become a pretext for adharma; true tapas protects, it does not harm.
Kedārakhaṇḍa’s broader setting is the Kedāra region, but this verse focuses on conduct toward sages rather than a particular tīrtha.
None; the verse narrates an ethical issue (violence justified as ‘testing’).