Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 84
पार्ष्णिग्राह्यभवद्रुद्रो देवाचार्यस्य वै तदा । यदा तारामधार्षीत्स द्विजराजोऽतिसुंदरीम्
pārṣṇigrāhyabhavadrudro devācāryasya vai tadā | yadā tārāmadhārṣītsa dvijarājo'tisuṃdarīm
En ce temps-là, Rudra devint, pour ainsi dire, celui qui saisit le coupable par le talon pour le précepteur des dieux ; car c’est alors que la Lune—roi parmi les deux-fois-nés—outragea la très belle Tārā.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Viśveśvara (Kāśī) (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya ṛṣis (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: A celestial court scene: radiant Soma (Moon) drawn toward the dazzling Tārā; Bṛhaspati’s anguish; Rudra appearing as the stern enforcer who ‘seizes by the heel,’ arresting the offender and restoring cosmic order.
FAQs
Even celestial beings are accountable to dharma; Śiva restrains transgression and restores moral order.
The broader frame is Kāśī, where Viśveśvara (Śiva) is upheld as supreme; the verse itself is narrative background rather than a direct tīrtha description.
No direct rite is prescribed here; it sets up Śiva’s authority over ritual and dharma, developed in subsequent verses.