Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21
ततः स नृपतिस्तेन वायुवेगेन वाजिना । नीतो दूरं दुर्गमार्गं सर्वजंतुविवर्जितम्
tataḥ sa nṛpatistena vāyuvegena vājinā | nīto dūraṃ durgamārgaṃ sarvajaṃtuvivarjitam
मग वायुवेगासमान त्या घोड्याने तो नृपती फार दूर, सर्व प्राण्यांनी ओस पडलेल्या दुर्गम मार्गाने नेला गेला।
Narrator (contextual; likely Sūta continuing the account)
Scene: A lone king on a swift horse racing through an empty, forbidding corridor of land—no birds, no animals—only wind and dust.
FAQs
A solitary, difficult passage often precedes purification and encounter with the unseen; Māhātmyas use such imagery to mark entry into sacred terrain.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as narrative movement toward the later revelation of place and merit.
None; the verse describes the king’s forced progress through an uninhabited route.