Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 22
यथैव श्वापदानां च वृका हिंसापरायणाः । काका यतांडजानां च श्वापदानां च जंबुकाः । धूर्ता तथा मनुष्याणां स्त्रीज्ञेया सततं बुधैः
yathaiva śvāpadānāṃ ca vṛkā hiṃsāparāyaṇāḥ | kākā yatāṃḍajānāṃ ca śvāpadānāṃ ca jaṃbukāḥ | dhūrtā tathā manuṣyāṇāṃ strījñeyā satataṃ budhaiḥ
Sebagaimana serigala dalam kalangan binatang liar sentiasa cenderung kepada keganasan; dan sebagaimana gagak dalam kalangan makhluk bertelur, serta serigala hutan dalam kalangan binatang liar, terkenal dengan helahnya—demikian juga, dalam kalangan manusia, wanita difahami oleh orang bijaksana sebagai sentiasa memperdaya.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Scene: Didactic speech in an asura assembly: a speaker warns using vivid animal comparisons—wolf, crow, jackal—projecting suspicion and social tension before the amṛta episode.
FAQs
It uses animal analogies to deliver a nīti-style warning about recognizing harmful or deceitful tendencies and exercising discernment (viveka) in worldly dealings.
This verse itself is a moral observation within the Kedārakhaṇḍa context; it does not directly name a tīrtha in the line, though the broader section belongs to the Kedāra sacred region (Kedāra-kṣetra).
No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this shloka; it functions as ethical instruction rather than a ritual injunction.