Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 127
ततो मया स संप्रोक्तः कोपात्सलि लपन्नगः । महामन्युपरीतेन स्मृत्वा भार्यां मृगावतीम् । मम भार्या प्रिया पूर्वं सर्पेणासीद्विनाशिता
tato mayā sa saṃproktaḥ kopātsali lapannagaḥ | mahāmanyuparītena smṛtvā bhāryāṃ mṛgāvatīm | mama bhāryā priyā pūrvaṃ sarpeṇāsīdvināśitā
Alors, envahi par la colère, je répondis à ce serpent d'eau, me souvenant de mon épouse Mṛgāvatī avec une grande rage : « Ma bien-aimée épouse fut jadis anéantie par un serpent. »
Narrator (the brāhmaṇa addressed as brāhmaṇasattama)
Scene: The brāhmaṇa speaks harshly, eyes burning; behind him, a faint imagined vignette of his wife Mṛgāvatī appears as a memory—serpent-bite tragedy implied, not graphic.
FAQs
Unprocessed grief can harden into vengeance; Dharma calls for transforming sorrow into wise action, not indiscriminate retaliation.
This is part of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya narrative arc; the particular tīrtha is not named in this verse.
None in this verse; it provides the backstory motivating the action.