Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
अथ ते तद्वचः श्रुत्वा दानवा बलवत्तराः । गत्वा च मेदिनीपृष्ठं गुप्ताः सर्पंति सर्वतः
atha te tadvacaḥ śrutvā dānavā balavattarāḥ | gatvā ca medinīpṛṣṭhaṃ guptāḥ sarpaṃti sarvataḥ
ആ വാക്കുകൾ കേട്ട് അത്യന്തം ബലവാന്മാരായ ദാനവർ ഭൂമിയുടെ മേൽപ്പുറത്തേക്ക് ചെന്നു, മറഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ട് എല്ലായിടത്തും സരിച്ചുനടന്നു।
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa context; specific speaker not explicit in this snippet)
Scene: Bands of concealed Dānavas move like serpents across varied landscapes—villages, forests, riverbanks—blending into shadows, suggesting a net tightening around ritual life.
FAQs
Adharma may spread stealthily, but in Mahātmya narratives this movement typically precedes a revelation of the site’s divine safeguarding.
The chapter context moves toward the sanctity and protection associated with Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra.
No prescription here; it narrates the Dānavas’ covert movement seeking practitioners of dharma.