Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 13
स हि राज्ञामजेयोऽभूद्यथापूर्वं बलिर्बली । कंटकं कंटकेनेव धृतराष्ट्रो जिगाय तम्
sa hi rājñāmajeyo'bhūdyathāpūrvaṃ balirbalī | kaṃṭakaṃ kaṃṭakeneva dhṛtarāṣṭro jigāya tam
तो राजांमध्ये अजेय होता, जसा पूर्वीचा पराक्रमी बली; तरी धृतराष्ट्राने त्याला जिंकले—जसे काटा काट्यानेच काढतात.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced)
Listener: Pārtha (Arjuna)
Scene: Narrative tableau: the ‘unconquerable’ king likened to Bali; a symbolic thorn being removed by another thorn overlaying the political scene; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s strategic victory implied rather than shown directly.
FAQs
Purāṇic discourse often frames pragmatic governance: a harmful force may be neutralized through an opposing force, like thorn against thorn.
None; the verse is political-narrative rather than tīrtha-māhātmya.
None.