Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 73
यत्र धर्मो ह्यधर्मेण पीड्यते सुरसत्तम । असत्येन तथा सत्यं भूपाश्चौरैः सदैव तु
yatra dharmo hyadharmeṇa pīḍyate surasattama | asatyena tathā satyaṃ bhūpāścauraiḥ sadaiva tu
Ô le meilleur des dieux, en ce lieu le Dharma est opprimé par l’Adharma; la vérité est écrasée par le mensonge; et les rois sont sans cesse traités comme des voleurs (ou deviennent eux-mêmes tels).
Skanda (deduced; exact speaker not explicit in snippet)
Listener: surasattama (addressed deity)
Scene: A symbolic courtroom/royal hall where Dharma is bound and Adharma enthroned; Truth is pushed down by Falsehood; a king is shown with a thief’s shadow—illustrating political and moral inversion.
FAQs
A society collapses when truth and dharma are persecuted; governance becomes predatory and trust dissolves.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it describes conditions contrary to a dhārmic sacred land.
None; it is a moral and social diagnosis rather than a ritual injunction.