Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17
अथान्ये तापसा रात्रौ संयुताश्च च धृतायुधाः । अथोच्छेदं गते धर्मे पीडितास्त्रिदिवौकसः
athānye tāpasā rātrau saṃyutāśca ca dhṛtāyudhāḥ | athocchedaṃ gate dharme pīḍitāstridivaukasaḥ
Then other ascetics, assembled by night and bearing weapons, rose up; and as dharma was being driven toward extinction, the dwellers of heaven were grievously afflicted.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: Night in a forested hermitage near the sea; ascetics gather with staffs and weapons, faces tense; in the sky, devas appear troubled as dharma seems to fade like a dimming lamp.
FAQs
When dharma approaches ruin, even celestial beings suffer; spiritual order is a cosmic concern, not merely a human one.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra frames the episode, emphasizing how sacred regions become stages for dharma’s protection and renewal.
No explicit prescription; the verse portrays emergency defense by tapasvins amid collapse of dharma.
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