Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 8
शयानो मैथुनासक्तः स्तनपो व्याधिपीडितः । न हंतव्यो मृगो राजन्मृगी च शिशुना वृता
śayāno maithunāsaktaḥ stanapo vyādhipīḍitaḥ | na haṃtavyo mṛgo rājanmṛgī ca śiśunā vṛtā
„O König, ein Hirsch darf nicht getötet werden, wenn er liegt, wenn er der Paarung hingegeben ist, wenn er noch säugt oder von Krankheit gequält wird; und auch eine Hirschkuh darf nicht erschlagen werden, wenn sie bei ihrem Kalb ist.“
Mṛgī (the doe)
Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The doe enumerates prohibitions like a dharma-śāstra: scenes implied—deer lying down, mating pair, fawn suckling, sick deer, and a doe with her fawn—contrasted with the king’s poised arrow.
FAQs
Dharma restrains power: even a king must avoid cruelty, especially toward the vulnerable (the sick, mating animals, and mothers with young).
The Arbuda (Mount Abu) sacred region in the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa’s Arbuda-khaṇḍa, where moral transgression triggers immediate karmic consequence.
No ritual is prescribed here; it gives an ethical injunction (ahiṃsā and restraint) relevant to kṣatriya conduct.