Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
कस्यचित्त्वथकालस्य यमः प्राह स्वकिंकरम् । ऊर्ध्वकेशं सुरक्ताक्षं कृष्णदन्तं भयानकम्
kasyacittvathakālasya yamaḥ prāha svakiṃkaram | ūrdhvakeśaṃ suraktākṣaṃ kṛṣṇadantaṃ bhayānakam
ഒരു സമയത്ത് യമൻ തന്റെ കിങ്കരനോടു പറഞ്ഞു—മുടി മേലോട്ടുയർന്നതും, കണ്ണുകൾ അത്യന്തം രക്തവർണ്ണവുമായും, പല്ലുകൾ കറുത്തതുമായും, ഭയാനക രൂപമുള്ളവനോടു.
Sūta (deduced from narrative context; explicit speaker appears at 8 as “Sūta uvāca”)
Listener: Ṛṣis
Scene: Yama, regal and stern, addresses a terrifying servant (yamakiṅkara/yamadūta): hair bristling upward, red eyes, black teeth—an embodiment of fear and karmic retribution.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma portrays death as governed by cosmic order: Yama’s messengers act under command, reflecting karmic administration rather than randomness.
The verse shifts from place-glory to the moral-cosmic narrative; the setting remains connected to Madhurā in the surrounding verses.
None; it introduces Yama’s fearsome messenger as part of the story.