Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 5
सुनन्दां ब्रूहि गत्वा त्वमिन्द्रसेनो हतो रणे । तदाकारस्ततो लक्ष्यः पातिव्रत्ये ममाज्ञया
sunandāṃ brūhi gatvā tvamindraseno hato raṇe | tadākārastato lakṣyaḥ pātivratye mamājñayā
ചെന്ന് സുനന്ദയോട് പറയുക—‘ഇന്ദ്രസേനൻ യുദ്ധത്തിൽ ഹതനായി.’ പിന്നെ എന്റെ ആജ്ഞപ്രകാരം അവളുടെ പതിവ്രതധർമ്മസ്ഥിതി നിരീക്ഷിക്കണം.
Indrasena (issuing instructions to the messenger)
Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Addressed to a kingly listener ('nṛpa') within the frame
Scene: A messenger, outwardly official but inwardly false, is commanded by the king to deliver news of Indrasena’s death and to watch Sunandā’s reaction as a measure of her chastity.
FAQs
Testing virtue through deceit is portrayed as morally perilous; dharma is not a spectacle but a sacred commitment.
None in this verse; it belongs to the narrative that later connects to tīrtha-based expiation.
None; it is a command within the story to observe her response.