Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 109
पृष्ठतः पाणिपादाश्च पृष्ठगा वातरंहसा । विषादनाः पिशाचास्ते संग्रामे पिशिताशनाः
pṛṣṭhataḥ pāṇipādāśca pṛṣṭhagā vātaraṃhasā | viṣādanāḥ piśācāste saṃgrāme piśitāśanāḥ
Ihre Hände und Füße waren nach hinten gerichtet; sie bewegten sich mit Windesschnelle. Diese Piśācas stifteten Verzweiflung und fraßen im Kampf Fleisch—
Unspecified narrator within Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya (contextual narrator)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Purāṇic interlocutor/audience (unspecified)
Scene: A wind-swept battlefield edge at dusk: piśācas with backward hands and feet sprint unnaturally, kicking up dust; their faces exude despair; in the background, a faint temple silhouette anchors the scene’s moral axis.
FAQs
It portrays adharma as terrifying and destabilizing, reinforcing the need to seek refuge in dharma and sacred space.
Prabhāsakṣetra, whose māhātmya frames even fearful beings within a sacred, instructive narrative.
None explicitly; the verse describes the nature of the beings prior to the narrator’s compassionate instruction.