Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4
तं निहत्य धनं भूरि गृहीत्वा प्रस्थितो गृहम् । ततोऽग्रे प्रेषयामास स दूतं कृत्रिमं नृप
taṃ nihatya dhanaṃ bhūri gṛhītvā prasthito gṛham | tato'gre preṣayāmāsa sa dūtaṃ kṛtrimaṃ nṛpa
Après les avoir abattus et s’être emparé d’immenses richesses, le roi prit le chemin du retour. Puis, en avant, il dépêcha un messager fabriqué.
Pulastya (continuing narration)
Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: A king or sages addressed as 'nṛpasattama' (best of kings)
Scene: A returning king, blood-stained from battle, carts of seized wealth behind him; he secretly instructs a disguised/‘fabricated’ messenger to ride ahead under a darkening sky.
FAQs
Actions taken in haste—especially deception—can become the seed of grievous consequences requiring later purification.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it sets up the moral crisis that the tīrtha later resolves.
None.