Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 33
तमुवाच ततः शक्रो दधीचिं तपसोनिधिम् । प्राणहारं प्रकर्तुं ते नाहं शक्तो यमिच्छसि
tamuvāca tataḥ śakro dadhīciṃ tapasonidhim | prāṇahāraṃ prakartuṃ te nāhaṃ śakto yamicchasi
അപ്പോൾ ശക്രൻ (ഇന്ദ്രൻ) തപോനിധിയായ ദധീചിയെ ഉദ്ദേശിച്ച് പറഞ്ഞു—“നീ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നപോലെ നിന്റെ പ്രാണഹരണം ചെയ്യാൻ എനിക്ക് ശക്തിയില്ല।”
Śakra (Indra)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrims/devotees within the kathā-listening frame
Scene: Indra, humbled, addresses Dadhīci with folded hands, confessing inability to take the sage’s life despite the request; Dadhīci remains tranquil, embodying tapas.
FAQs
Even the gods honor the autonomy of a realized sage; true sacrifice must arise from one’s own resolve (svacchanda-tyāga).
Prabhāsakṣetra (Prabhāsa), praised in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa as a sacred landscape where dharma-stories are remembered and recited.
No direct ritual is prescribed; the verse frames a dharmic principle about non-violence and voluntary renunciation.