Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 24
व्याघ्र उवाच । किं वृथा रुद्यते धेनो मां प्राप्य न हि जीवितम् । विद्यते कस्यचिन्मूर्खे स्मरेष्टां देवतां ततः
vyāghra uvāca | kiṃ vṛthā rudyate dheno māṃ prāpya na hi jīvitam | vidyate kasyacinmūrkhe smareṣṭāṃ devatāṃ tataḥ
व्याघ्र उवाच—हे धेनो, किं वृथा रुद्यसे? मां प्राप्य न हि जीवितं तव विद्यते। मूर्खे, यदि काचिदिष्टा देवता, तां स्मर।
Vyāghra (Tiger)
Tirtha: Arbuda (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: The tiger speaks with harsh certainty, fangs visible, mocking the cow’s hope; the cow stands trembling yet attentive, the forest framing a moral confrontation.
FAQs
In mortality’s shadow, remembrance of one’s chosen deity and inner resolve become central—yet dharma must still be acted, not merely invoked.
No specific tīrtha is named; the Arbuda setting forms the sacred backdrop for the moral dialogue.
A mental act is implied: smaraṇa (remembrance) of one’s iṣṭa-devatā.