Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4
तं निहत्य धनं भूरि गृहीत्वा प्रस्थितो गृहम् । ततोऽग्रे प्रेषयामास स दूतं कृत्रिमं नृप
taṃ nihatya dhanaṃ bhūri gṛhītvā prasthito gṛham | tato'gre preṣayāmāsa sa dūtaṃ kṛtrimaṃ nṛpa
അവരെ വധിച്ച് ധാരാളം ധനം കൈപ്പറ്റി രാജാവ് ഗൃഹത്തിലേക്ക് പുറപ്പെട്ടു. പിന്നെ മുൻകൂട്ടി ഒരു കൃത്രിമ ദൂതനെ അയച്ചു.
Pulastya (continuing narration)
Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: A king or sages addressed as 'nṛpasattama' (best of kings)
Scene: A returning king, blood-stained from battle, carts of seized wealth behind him; he secretly instructs a disguised/‘fabricated’ messenger to ride ahead under a darkening sky.
FAQs
Actions taken in haste—especially deception—can become the seed of grievous consequences requiring later purification.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it sets up the moral crisis that the tīrtha later resolves.
None.