Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5
देव्युवाच । किमसौ रोगवान्राजा सार्वभौमो महीपतिः । तस्य धर्मरतस्यापि कस्माद्रोग समुद्भवः
devyuvāca | kimasau rogavānrājā sārvabhaumo mahīpatiḥ | tasya dharmaratasyāpi kasmādroga samudbhavaḥ
Die Göttin sprach: „Warum ist jener souveräne König, der Weltenherr und Gebieter der Erde, von Krankheit befallen? Obwohl er dem Dharma zugetan ist, aus welcher Ursache ist dieses Leiden entstanden?“
Devī (the Goddess)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Īśvara (Śiva)
Scene: Devī, seated beside Īśvara in a sacred grove near Prabhāsa, questions the paradox of a dharmic universal monarch afflicted by disease; sages listen attentively.
FAQs
Even a dharma-minded ruler can face suffering; the Purāṇas often use such questions to introduce karmic causality and hidden faults like pride or transgression.
The passage belongs to Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya (Prabhāsa region), though this verse itself sets up the narrative rather than naming a specific tīrtha.
No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it is an inquiry initiating the teaching.