Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 31
शक्तोऽहं वालखिल्यानां निग्रहं कर्त्तुमञ्जसा । किन्तु मे ब्राह्मणा मान्याः पूज्याश्च सुरसत्तमाः
śakto'haṃ vālakhilyānāṃ nigrahaṃ karttumañjasā | kintu me brāhmaṇā mānyāḥ pūjyāśca surasattamāḥ
నేను వాలఖిల్యులను సులభంగా నియంత్రించగలను; కానీ హే దేవశ్రేష్ఠా, బ్రాహ్మణులు నాకు గౌరవనీయులు, పూజనీయులు కూడా.
Śiva (Śrī Bhagavān)
Tirtha: Arbuda kṣetra (brāhmaṇa-satkara emphasis)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devas/petitioners; Vālakhilyas as the concerned party
Scene: Śiva declares he can restrain the Vālakhilyas but chooses reverence; the tiny ascetic sages stand before him; the mood is ethical gravity and calm authority.
FAQs
Power is subordinated to dharma: even when correction is possible, reverence toward sages and Brahmins is upheld as a moral and social-spiritual principle.
The teaching arises within the Arbuda Khaṇḍa’s Vālakhilyāśrama episode, linking the sanctity of the place with the dignity of its ascetics.
No ritual act is prescribed; the verse prescribes conduct—māna and pūjā toward brāhmaṇas/sages.