Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 34
वसिष्ठोऽपि समाख्याय आपद्धर्मं महामनाः । कालस्यानन्तरप्रेक्षी प्रोद्ववाहाऽन्त्यजाङ्गनाम् । अक्षमालेति वै नाम्नीं प्रसिद्धा भुवनत्रये
vasiṣṭho'pi samākhyāya āpaddharmaṃ mahāmanāḥ | kālasyānantaraprekṣī prodvavāhā'ntyajāṅganām | akṣamāleti vai nāmnīṃ prasiddhā bhuvanatraye
മഹാമനസ്സനായ വസിഷ്ഠൻ ആപദ്ധർമ്മം വിശദീകരിച്ച്, കാലത്തിന്റെ ആവശ്യകത നിരീക്ഷിച്ച്, വിധിപൂർവ്വം അന്ത്യജസമുദായത്തിലെ അക്ഷമാലാ നാമിനിയായ സ്ത്രീയെ വിവാഹം ചെയ്തു; അവൾ ത്രിലോകങ്ങളിലും പ്രസിദ്ധയായി।
Īśvara (Śiva)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (frame)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other sages (frame; not explicit in the verse)
Scene: Vasiṣṭha, serene and authoritative, completes an āpaddharma discourse; beside him stands Akṣamālā, modest yet dignified, as the marriage rite is sanctioned by time’s necessity; onlookers—ṛṣis and subtle devas—witness the dharmic exception.
FAQs
Dharma is contextual: in calamity, right action may differ from ordinary norms, yet must be guided by conscience, explanation, and responsibility.
The account is embedded in the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, linking the sages’ story to the sanctity of Prabhāsa.
The verse references āpaddharma as a guiding principle rather than a specific rite; it narrates a marriage performed as a dharmic response to crisis.