Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2
वधार्थं तस्य विप्रर्षेर्वसिष्ठेन च धीमता । स्तंभिताऽथर्वणैर्मन्त्रैः प्रस्वेदः समजायत
vadhārthaṃ tasya viprarṣervasiṣṭhena ca dhīmatā | staṃbhitā'tharvaṇairmantraiḥ prasvedaḥ samajāyata
அந்த பிரம்மரிஷியை வதைக்க முனைந்த ஆயுதத்தை ஞானமிகு வசிஷ்டர் அதர்வண மந்திரங்களால் தடுத்து நிறுத்தினார்; அப்போது அவனிடத்தில் வியர்வை எழுந்தது।
Sūta (continuing narration)
Type: kund
Scene: Vasiṣṭha, serene and radiant, raises a hand in mantra-recitation; an incoming weapon/force is arrested mid-air; the threatened brahmin-sage is spared; heat and strain show as perspiration beginning to form.
FAQs
Mantra and tapas (spiritual discipline) protect dharma, transforming violence into a source of sacred benefit.
The Dhārā tīrtha whose emergence is traced to this miracle involving Vasiṣṭha’s Atharvan mantras.
Implied power of Atharvan mantras (stambhana/restraint); explicit ritual actions appear in later verses (snāna, darśana).