Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 43
विधिर्बलीयान्भुजगि चित्रं जयपराजये । क्रूरोपि विजयी क्वापि त्वक्रूरोपि पराजयी
vidhirbalīyānbhujagi citraṃ jayaparājaye | krūropi vijayī kvāpi tvakrūropi parājayī
हे नागकन्ये, विधीच अधिक बलवान असतो; जय-पराजयाचे हे खरोखरच विचित्र रहस्य आहे। कधी क्रूरही विजयी होतो, तर कधी अक्रूरही पराजित होतो।
Narrative voice within Kāśī Khaṇḍa (deductively: Skanda in discourse to Agastya)
Listener: Bhujagī / nāgakanyā (as addressed in the verse)
Scene: A reflective utterance addressed to a serpent-maid: the cosmic balance of fate, with symbolic scales of victory and defeat; shadowy figures of the cruel triumphant and the gentle fallen.
FAQs
It underscores daiva (destiny) as a powerful factor in worldly outcomes, urging humility and steadiness amid success or failure.
The broader frame is Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) in the Kāśī Khaṇḍa, though this verse itself is a moral reflection rather than a site-description.
None in this verse; it is a dharmic observation about the unpredictability of victory and defeat.