Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 16
प्रदहन्वै नरश्रेष्ठ बभ्रमुश्च इतस्ततः । यथैव ते महाराज दहन्ति सकलं जगत्
pradahanvai naraśreṣṭha babhramuśca itastataḥ | yathaiva te mahārāja dahanti sakalaṃ jagat
ഹേ നരശ്രേഷ്ഠാ, അവർ ജ്വലിച്ചു ഇങ്ങും അങ്ങും സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്നു; ഹേ മഹാരാജാ, അങ്ങനെ തന്നേ അവർ സമസ്ത ജഗത്തെയും ദഹിപ്പിക്കുന്നു।
Narrator (Purāṇic speaker, contextually within Revā Khaṇḍa discourse)
Tirtha: Dvādaśāditya
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mahārāja / Bhārata (kingly interlocutor)
Scene: The twelve solar powers as moving flames traversing the sky, their heat visibly scorching the worlds—an image of roaming, consuming radiance.
FAQs
Impermanence is certain; devotion should be anchored in the divine rather than in transient worldly forms.
The verse is cosmological; within Revā Khaṇḍa it supports the sanctity of places where such divine powers are worshipped and beheld.
No direct prescription; it prepares the listener for the ensuing praise of darśana and circumambulation.