Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 29
श्वमांसमिच्छन्नर्तौ तु धर्मान्न च्ययते स्म सः । प्राणानां परिरक्षार्थं वामदेवो न लिप्तवान्
śvamāṃsamicchannartau tu dharmānna cyayate sma saḥ | prāṇānāṃ parirakṣārthaṃ vāmadevo na liptavān
Bahkan pada masa kelaparan, ketika ia menginginkan daging anjing, ia tidak menyimpang dari dharma. Demi menjaga napas kehidupan, Vāmadeva tidak ternoda oleh dosa.
Ṛṣis (concluding with the Vāmadeva precedent)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (as addressed in adjacent verse-context)
Scene: A famine-stricken landscape; a sage identified with Vāmadeva stands composed, holding a small portion of meat only as last resort, while a subtle aura of purity surrounds him, indicating ‘alipta’ (unstained).
FAQs
When the aim is preservation of life in calamity, the person is not considered fallen from dharma or spiritually tainted.
Prabhāsakṣetra, whose māhātmya teaches both sacred merit and realistic dharma for crises.
None; the verse reinforces the distress-ethics doctrine rather than prescribing a vrata or rite.