Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 58
तेजोहानिः परा तेऽद्य जाता ब्रह्मवधाद्विभो । तस्माद्धेनुं परित्यज्य गम्यतां निजमंदिरम्
tejohāniḥ parā te'dya jātā brahmavadhādvibho | tasmāddhenuṃ parityajya gamyatāṃ nijamaṃdiram
Mereka berkata, “Wahai yang perkasa, hari ini sinar kemuliaanmu telah merosot besar kerana dosa membunuh brahmana. Maka tinggalkanlah lembu itu dan kembalilah ke istanamu sendiri.”
Ministers (Mantrin) speaking to the king (Haihaya ruler, implied)
Scene: Ministers solemnly address a shaken king; a symbolic dimming of royal aura—his crown seems heavy, his face shadowed—while the contested cow (Kāmadhenu) stands as the moral pivot, serene amid violence.
FAQs
Brahmin-slaying destroys tejas (spiritual-royal radiance); dharma is the true source of power, and violating it brings immediate decline.
Not named here; the verse conveys a dharma principle within the chapter’s tīrtha-māhātmya setting.
No explicit rite is prescribed; the counsel is to desist and withdraw from further wrongdoing.