Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 57
हा नंदभद्र यद्येवं तवाप्येवंविधं फलम् । एतेन मन्ये मनसि धर्मोप्येष वृथैव यत्
hā naṃdabhadra yadyevaṃ tavāpyevaṃvidhaṃ phalam | etena manye manasi dharmopyeṣa vṛthaiva yat
“ഹാ നന്ദഭദ്രാ! നിനക്കും ഇത്തരമൊരു ഫലമെങ്കിൽ, ഇതുകൊണ്ട് എന്റെ മനസ്സിൽ ഞാൻ നിശ്ചയിക്കുന്നത്—ഈ ധർമ്മവും വ്യർത്ഥമാണ്.”
A skeptical/undisciplined interlocutor (avrata; likened to Dadhikarṇa) addressing Nandabhadra
Listener: Nandabhadra (addressed)
Scene: The tempter speaks forcefully to Nandabhadra, gesturing as if proving a point; Nandabhadra listens in grief, the air charged with moral combat—faith versus cynicism.
FAQs
The verse presents a temptation: judging dharma by immediate outcomes; the Purāṇic framework later refutes this short-sighted conclusion.
No tīrtha is named; it is a moral-philosophical provocation within the narrative.
None; it is argumentative speech aiming to dislodge faith in dharma.