Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 20
दुष्टानां शासनं चापि साधूनां परिपालनम् । पाशुपाल्यं च वैश्यानां कृषिर्विज्ञानमेव च
duṣṭānāṃ śāsanaṃ cāpi sādhūnāṃ paripālanam | pāśupālyaṃ ca vaiśyānāṃ kṛṣirvijñānameva ca
दुष्टों का दण्ड और साधुओं का संरक्षण—यह भी कर्तव्य है। वैश्य के लिए पशुपालन, कृषि और व्यवहारिक ज्ञान ही प्रशंसित कर्म हैं।
Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Listener: vatsa (disciple/son-figure; unspecified in the given excerpt)
Scene: Two-part tableau: (1) a righteous ruler/guardian restraining a wrongdoer while sheltering sādhus; (2) Vaiśyas tending cows, ploughing fields, weighing goods—prosperity aligned with dharma.
FAQs
Dharma is sustained by social responsibility: governance restrains wrongdoing and protects the good, while productive livelihoods support the world.
No holy site is referenced; it is an instruction on duties (svadharma).
None; the verse outlines ethical and occupational duties rather than a vrata or tīrtha-ritual.