Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 58
इंद्रो हि जारभावाच्च चंद्रो हि गुरुतल्पगः । यमः कदर्यभावाच्च चंचलत्वात्सदागतिः
iṃdro hi jārabhāvācca caṃdro hi gurutalpagaḥ | yamaḥ kadaryabhāvācca caṃcalatvātsadāgatiḥ
ഇന്ദ്രൻ ജാരഭാവം മൂലം, ചന്ദ്രൻ ഗുരുതൽപഗത്വം മൂലം, യമൻ കദര്യഭാവം മൂലം—ഇങ്ങനെ ചാഞ്ചല്യത്താൽ അവർ എപ്പോഴും പതനത്തിലേക്ക് വഴുതുന്നു।
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa context; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa)
Listener: General audience; implicitly the devas being described/criticized
Scene: Allegorical portrayal of Indra, Candra, and Yama each shadowed by their respective vice—seduction, illicit desire, miserliness—while a motif of ‘fickleness’ (wind-tossed banner, wavering flame) signals perpetual instability and fall.
FAQs
Even exalted beings fall when driven by vice; dharma requires steadiness, restraint, and reverence for the guru.
Not named in this verse; the Kedārakhaṇḍa setting frames these faults as reasons to seek Śiva’s grace connected with Kedāra.
None directly; the verse functions as moral diagnosis rather than a ritual injunction.