Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 88
येनैवं कुरुषे कर्म गर्हितं चांत्यजैरपि । ततः स प्रहसन्नाह क्षत्रियोऽहं महीपतिः । विष्णुसेन इति ख्यातो हैहयान्वयसंभवः
yenaivaṃ kuruṣe karma garhitaṃ cāṃtyajairapi | tataḥ sa prahasannāha kṣatriyo'haṃ mahīpatiḥ | viṣṇusena iti khyāto haihayānvayasaṃbhavaḥ
“अंत्यजही ज्याला निंद्य मानतात असे हे गर्हित कर्म तू का करतोस?” असे ऐकून तो हसत म्हणाला—“मी क्षत्रिय, राजा आहे. मी विष्णुसेन म्हणून प्रसिद्ध असून हैहय वंशात जन्मलो आहे.”
Viṣṇusena (the king)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The humble worker smiles and reveals royal identity—subtle regal bearing beneath simplicity; the questioner’s posture shifts from disdain to attention.
FAQs
Even a socially powerful person must account for actions condemned by dharma; lineage and status do not absolve blameworthy deeds.
The wider passage belongs to the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya and leads into the glory of Nāgahrada (the serpent-lake) as a liberating tīrtha.
This verse itself introduces the speaker; the ritual prescription appears later as śrāddha to be performed at Nāgahrada.