Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21
निशावक्त्रे नृपश्रेष्ठ वासः संचिंतितो मया । दृष्ट्वाऽमूंश्च पशून्भूप मानुषं भाव्यमेव हि
niśāvaktre nṛpaśreṣṭha vāsaḥ saṃciṃtito mayā | dṛṣṭvā'mūṃśca paśūnbhūpa mānuṣaṃ bhāvyameva hi
Tatkala malam menjelang, wahai raja yang termulia, aku mempertimbangkan untuk bermalam di sini. Melihat binatang-binatang itu, wahai penguasa bumi, aku menyangka bahawa mereka pasti berada di bawah jagaan manusia.
Brāhmaṇa (pilgrim)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: King Ajo (addressed as nṛpaśreṣṭha/bhūpa)
Scene: At dusk, the brāhmaṇa considers staying; he sees animals nearby and assumes they are under human supervision—setting up the later surprise that the ‘caretaker’ is extraordinary.
FAQs
Even ordinary decisions during pilgrimage—where to rest, whom to trust—become part of the moral and spiritual testing within purāṇic sacred geography.
The setting remains the Hāṭakeśvara kṣetra within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
None; the verse narrates circumstances that lead into the ensuing event.