Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 28
सूत उवाच । तच्छ्रुत्वा भयसंत्रस्तो गाधिः पार्थिवसत्तमः । असवर्णं च तं मत्वा दरिद्रं वृद्धमेवच । अदाने शापभीतस्तु ततो व्याजमुवाच सः
sūta uvāca | tacchrutvā bhayasaṃtrasto gādhiḥ pārthivasattamaḥ | asavarṇaṃ ca taṃ matvā daridraṃ vṛddhamevaca | adāne śāpabhītastu tato vyājamuvāca saḥ
Sūta dit : À ces paroles, le roi Gādhi, le meilleur des souverains, fut saisi d’effroi. Le tenant pour d’un rang inégal, pauvre et déjà âgé, mais craignant une malédiction s’il refusait de donner, il parla alors sous un prétexte.
Sūta
Scene: Sūta narrates: King Gādhi recoils in fear, judging Ṛcīka as socially unequal, poor, and old; torn between refusal and fear of curse, he prepares a deceptive condition.
FAQs
Fear, pride, and social calculation can distort dharma; Purāṇic narrative warns against evasive conduct when righteousness demands clarity.
The verse is embedded in Tīrthamāhātmya narration, but here the emphasis is ethical drama rather than direct site-glorification.
No ritual prescription; it mentions the moral consequence of refusal (fear of śāpa) in the context of a requested marriage-gift.