Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 21
राक्षस उवाच । राक्षसोऽहमितः पूर्वं पंचविंशतिमे भवे । गोप्ता यवनराष्ट्रस्य दुर्जयो नाम वीर्यवान्
rākṣasa uvāca | rākṣaso'hamitaḥ pūrvaṃ paṃcaviṃśatime bhave | goptā yavanarāṣṭrasya durjayo nāma vīryavān
The rākṣasa said: Formerly, before this—in my twenty-fifth existence—I was a rākṣasa, the protector of the Yavana kingdom, a mighty one named Durjaya.
Rākṣasa
Listener: Vāmadeva
Scene: The rākṣasa narrates his former identity: a mighty guardian with martial insignia, now reduced to a haunted forest being; the scene can show a faint ‘past-life’ vignette behind him like a shadow-panel.
FAQs
The Purāṇas frame suffering as rooted in a long karmic continuum; acknowledging one’s past becomes the start of correction.
None; the verse references a realm (Yavana-rāṣṭra) rather than a pilgrimage site.
None in this verse; it is autobiographical context.