Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 81
पालयिष्ये प्रजाश्चेति पूर्वं ते समयः कृतः । तांस्तथावादिनः सर्वान्ब्रह्मर्षीनब्रवीत्तदा
pālayiṣye prajāśceti pūrvaṃ te samayaḥ kṛtaḥ | tāṃstathāvādinaḥ sarvānbrahmarṣīnabravīttadā
‘പ്രജകളെ ഞാൻ പാലിക്കും’—ഇതാണ് നീ മുമ്പ് ചെയ്ത ഉടമ്പടി. അപ്പോൾ അവൻ അങ്ങനെ പറഞ്ഞ എല്ലാ ബ്രഹ്മർഷിമാരോടും സംസാരിച്ചു.
Purāṇic narrator (introducing Vena’s reply to the sages)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka-led ṛṣis (frame typical)
Scene: The sages remind Vena of his earlier pledge to protect the people; Vena responds, addressing the assembled brahmarṣis—tension between remembered duty and present defiance.
FAQs
Kingship is framed as a binding commitment to protect the people; breaking that trust is a breach of dharma.
Prabhāsakṣetra is the overarching māhātmya context; the verse itself is about rajadharma.
None; it references a moral-social obligation (protection of prajā).