Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 61
जलगोशकटारामयाञ्चावृद्धिवणिक्क्रियाः । अनूपं पर्वतो राजा दुर्भिक्षे जीविका स्मृताः
jalagośakaṭārāmayāñcāvṛddhivaṇikkriyāḥ | anūpaṃ parvato rājā durbhikṣe jīvikā smṛtāḥ
En temps de famine, on se souvient comme moyens de subsistance : les travaux liés à l’eau (porter l’eau/irriguer), l’élevage des bovins, l’usage des charrettes pour le transport, le service destiné à plaire, la mendicité, le prêt à intérêt et le commerce. De même, demeurer dans les marais, sur les montagnes ou sous la protection d’un roi est aussi compté comme manière de survivre dans la disette.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A famine-stricken landscape near the Prabhāsa coast: people drawing water, herding cattle, carts moving grain, merchants weighing goods, and a distant hill/fort of a king offering refuge; the mood is austere and instructional.
FAQs
Dharma recognizes calamity: survival options expand during famine, while still framing them as regulated, time-bound necessities.
The teaching is situated in Prabhāsa-kṣetra’s māhātmya narrative; it supports dharmic living even amid regional hardship.
No specific rite; it lists āpaddharma livelihoods permitted/remembered during durbhikṣa (famine).