Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 9
कुरूणां पांडवानां च युद्धोद्योगं विलोक्य तु । बंधूनां स वधं सोढुमसमर्थो हलायुधः
kurūṇāṃ pāṃḍavānāṃ ca yuddhodyogaṃ vilokya tu | baṃdhūnāṃ sa vadhaṃ soḍhumasamartho halāyudhaḥ
Voyant les préparatifs de guerre entre les Kurus et les Pāṇḍavas, Halāyudha (Balabhadra), incapable de supporter l’abattage de ses propres parents, ne put l’endurer.
Sūta (continuing narration)
Listener: Brāhmaṇas/Ṛṣis
Scene: A battlefield-camp panorama before war: banners, chariots, conches; Balabhadra with plough and mace stands apart, sorrowful, turning away from the armies, embodying refusal to witness kin-slaying.
FAQs
When dharma becomes conflicted and violence looms, turning inward through restraint and sacred retreat is presented as a righteous response.
Not named in this verse; it sets up Balabhadra’s choice that leads into tīrtha-yātrā culminating in the praised site of this chapter.
None explicitly; the verse motivates renunciation of participation and the later undertaking of pilgrimage.