Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3
अतीव निष्ठुरो दुष्टो देवब्राह्मणपीडकः । परदारहरो नित्यं परवित्तहरस्तथा
atīva niṣṭhuro duṣṭo devabrāhmaṇapīḍakaḥ | paradāraharo nityaṃ paravittaharastathā
Il était d’une dureté extrême et pervers : il tourmentait les dévots des dieux et les brāhmaṇas ; sans cesse il souillait les épouses d’autrui et, de même, dérobait les biens des autres.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator within Arbuda Khaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: ‘nṛpa-sattama’ addressee
Scene: A sequence-like depiction of the king’s adharma: brāhmaṇas harassed, devotees driven away, a stolen treasury, and a violated household—shown as moral vignettes around the central figure of the king.
FAQs
Cruelty, exploitation of the righteous, sexual misconduct, and theft are grave adharma that ripen into severe karmic consequences.
The narrative context is the Arbuda region (Arbudācala/Mount Abu) within the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, leading into a tīrtha-māhātmya account.
None in this verse; it establishes the sinful character whose fate will illustrate the tīrtha’s power.