Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 43
तच्छ्रुत्वा कोपमापन्नः स राजा शप्तुमुद्यतः । वसिष्ठं स्वकरे कृत्वा जलं सौदासभूपतिः । शापोद्यतं च तं दृष्ट्वा नारदो वाक्यमब्रवीत्
tacchrutvā kopamāpannaḥ sa rājā śaptumudyataḥ | vasiṣṭhaṃ svakare kṛtvā jalaṃ saudāsabhūpatiḥ | śāpodyataṃ ca taṃ dṛṣṭvā nārado vākyamabravīt
तच्छ्रुत्वा स राजा कोपमापन्नः शप्तुमुद्यतः। सौदासभूपतिः वसिष्ठं मनसि कृत्वा स्वकरे जलं गृहीत्वा शापोद्यतः स्थितः; तं दृष्ट्वा नारदो वाक्यमब्रवीत्॥
Narrator (contextual: Purāṇic narrator; Nārada speaks at the end of the verse)
Scene: King Saudāsa, furious, holds water in his palm, mentally invoking Vasiṣṭha, ready to curse; Nārada urgently addresses him to stop or redirect the act.
FAQs
Anger can push even rulers toward grave adharma; timely counsel from sages restrains destructive speech and action.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of the chapter’s narrative setting within Tīrthamāhātmya.
The verse alludes to the ritual act of taking water in hand as a formal prelude to pronouncing a curse.