Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 29
भीतत्राणात्परं नान्यत्पुण्यमस्ति तपोधन । एवमुक्तवती भीता सालसांगी तपस्विनम्
bhītatrāṇātparaṃ nānyatpuṇyamasti tapodhana | evamuktavatī bhītā sālasāṃgī tapasvinam
«Ô trésor d’austérité, il n’est pas de mérite plus haut que de sauver celui qui a peur.» Ainsi parla la femme tremblante, se serrant contre l’ascète.
Vṛndā (addressing the tapasvin)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Vṛndā, still fearful, speaks a crisp moral aphorism to the ascetic; she clings close, embodying dependence and trust; the ascetic listens, poised to act.
FAQs
The highest puṇya is compassionate protection—saving those in fear is presented as supreme dharma.
The teaching is voiced in the hermitage within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa tīrtha-region, framing the place as a sanctuary where dharma is enacted.
None; the verse offers a dharma-principle (refuge-giving) rather than a specific rite.