Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 52
यतः सर्वः क्षत्रियस्य दंड्यो विपथिसंस्थि तः । आत्मापिदंड्यः साधूनां प्रवृत्तः कुपथाद्यदि
yataḥ sarvaḥ kṣatriyasya daṃḍyo vipathisaṃsthi taḥ | ātmāpidaṃḍyaḥ sādhūnāṃ pravṛttaḥ kupathādyadi
For anyone who stands upon a wrong path is punishable by a kṣatriya; even one’s own self becomes punishable in the sight of the righteous if it turns toward an evil course.
Bhīmasena
Scene: A didactic courtly scene: a kṣatriya-king holding the daṇḍa (scepter/staff of justice) while a sage points to a forked road—one bright (satpatha), one dark (kupatha)—signifying external law and inner moral scrutiny.
FAQs
Righteous governance and personal ethics both demand correction of wrongdoing—externally by just authority and internally through self-accountability.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the focus is kṣatra-dharma and moral responsibility.
No ritual is prescribed; it speaks of daṇḍa (discipline/punishment) as a dharmic principle.