Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 42
यावद्द्वादशवर्षाणि न जलं त्रिदशाधिपः । मुमोच धरणीपृष्ठे सर्वे लोकाः क्षुधार्दिताः
yāvaddvādaśavarṣāṇi na jalaṃ tridaśādhipaḥ | mumoca dharaṇīpṛṣṭhe sarve lokāḥ kṣudhārditāḥ
പന്ത്രണ്ടു വർഷം ദേവാധിപൻ ഭൂമിയുടെ മേൽ ജലം വിടുകയില്ലായിരുന്നു; എല്ലാവരും ക്ഷുധയാൽ പീഡിതരായി.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa addressing sages)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A montage-like scene: twelve cycles of seasons pass with no monsoon; cracked riverbeds, empty wells, gaunt people; Indra’s cloud-elephant absent from the sky, emphasizing withheld rain.
FAQs
The verse frames famine as a cosmic imbalance, encouraging dharmic remedies—worship, restraint, and giving—rather than despair.
Not specified in this verse; it functions as narrative background within a tīrtha-glorification chapter.
No direct prescription here; the situation motivates later rites and devotion.