Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 21
तस्य तैरभवयुद्धं शाल्वैरपि बलोद्धतैः । पाताले पन्नगेन्द्रस्य गन्धर्वैरिव दुर्मदैः
tasya tairabhavayuddhaṃ śālvairapi baloddhataiḥ | pātāle pannagendrasya gandharvairiva durmadaiḥ
അപ്പോൾ ബലഗർവത്തിൽ ഉന്മത്തരായ ആ ശാൽവന്മാരോടൊപ്പം അവനു ഘോരയുദ്ധം ഉദിച്ചു—പാതാളത്തിൽ നാഗേന്ദ്രനോടു ദുർമദ ഗന്ധർവർ പോരാടുന്നതുപോലെ।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced)
Scene: A dense battlefield: the protagonist facing Śālva warriors ‘swollen with strength’; the poet’s simile overlays a mythic vision of Gandharvas clashing with the serpent-lord in Pātāla—suggesting subterranean gloom, jeweled nāga hoods, and fierce celestial fighters.
FAQs
When pride and aggression rise, conflict becomes intense and destabilizing—echoed through cosmic imagery.
None; Pātāla is a cosmological realm used as a poetic comparison, not a pilgrimage site here.
None; the verse is descriptive and metaphorical.