Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 88
येनैवं कुरुषे कर्म गर्हितं चांत्यजैरपि । ततः स प्रहसन्नाह क्षत्रियोऽहं महीपतिः । विष्णुसेन इति ख्यातो हैहयान्वयसंभवः
yenaivaṃ kuruṣe karma garhitaṃ cāṃtyajairapi | tataḥ sa prahasannāha kṣatriyo'haṃ mahīpatiḥ | viṣṇusena iti khyāto haihayānvayasaṃbhavaḥ
“അന്ത്യജരും നിന്ദിക്കുന്ന ഈ ഗർഹിത കര്മ്മം നീ എന്തിന് ചെയ്യുന്നു?” എന്നു കേട്ടപ്പോൾ അവൻ ചിരിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് പറഞ്ഞു—“ഞാൻ ക്ഷത്രിയൻ, രാജാവാണ്. ഹൈഹയ വംശജനായ വിഷ്ണുസേന എന്ന പേരിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധൻ.”
Viṣṇusena (the king)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The humble worker smiles and reveals royal identity—subtle regal bearing beneath simplicity; the questioner’s posture shifts from disdain to attention.
FAQs
Even a socially powerful person must account for actions condemned by dharma; lineage and status do not absolve blameworthy deeds.
The wider passage belongs to the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya and leads into the glory of Nāgahrada (the serpent-lake) as a liberating tīrtha.
This verse itself introduces the speaker; the ritual prescription appears later as śrāddha to be performed at Nāgahrada.