Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 41
भेक उवाच । अस्मिञ्जलाशये वह्निः सांप्रतं पर्यवस्थितः । तस्यैते जलमध्यस्था मृता भूरिजलोद्भवाः
bheka uvāca | asmiñjalāśaye vahniḥ sāṃprataṃ paryavasthitaḥ | tasyaite jalamadhyasthā mṛtā bhūrijalodbhavāḥ
Kata katak itu: “Di takungan air ini, Vahni (Agni) kini sedang bersemayam. Kerana-Nya, makhluk yang lahir dari air—yang tinggal di tengah air—telah mati.”
Bheka (the frog)
Type: kund
Listener: Suras (the gods)
Scene: A moonlit or dusky pond with still water; within the water a subtle, contained blaze (Agni) glows; dead fish and aquatic beings float; a distressed frog surfaces, eyes wide, addressing unseen devas.
FAQs
Sacred power must be harmonized with dharma; when a force becomes disruptive, truthful testimony helps restore balance.
The jalāśaya (pond/reservoir) within Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra, as narrated in Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya (Adhyāya 90).
No explicit rite is stated; the verse identifies the locus of Agni in the water-reservoir, a typical precursor to tīrtha actions like snāna and worship in the broader māhātmya.