Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 21
तस्य तद्वचनं श्रुत्वा प्रहसन्नाह दुष्टधीः । मूलं विष्णुर्हि देवानां यत्र धर्मः सनातनः
tasya tadvacanaṃ śrutvā prahasannāha duṣṭadhīḥ | mūlaṃ viṣṇurhi devānāṃ yatra dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ
Ayant entendu ces paroles, l’homme à l’esprit mauvais éclata de rire et dit : « Car Viṣṇu est la racine même des dieux, là où demeure le Dharma éternel. »
A hostile/impious interlocutor in the narrative (speaker not named in the snippet; contextual deduction within Sūta’s narration)
Tirtha: Kedāra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A figure described as ‘wicked-minded’ laughs after hearing the call to invoke Śiva, asserting Viṣṇu as the root of the gods and seat of eternal dharma—capturing a charged doctrinal exchange in a divine assembly.
FAQs
It depicts a polemical claim about divine supremacy, setting up a narrative contrast rather than a final doctrinal conclusion.
The passage occurs within Kedārakhaṇḍa’s Kedāra setting, where the broader narrative ultimately serves the Mahātmya of the region and its deity.
No direct ritual instruction appears; it functions as a theological assertion within a dialogue.