Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 19
इति तद्वाक्यमादाय सुप्ते नंदसुते हरिः । प्रोवाच ऋक्षं सुप्तोऽयं नृपश्च त्यज्यतामिति
iti tadvākyamādāya supte naṃdasute hariḥ | provāca ṛkṣaṃ supto'yaṃ nṛpaśca tyajyatāmiti
ครั้นรับถ้อยคำนั้นแล้ว เมื่อราชกุมารหลับสนิท หริ—โอรสแห่งนันทะ—จึงกล่าวแก่หมีว่า “เจ้าชายนี้หลับอยู่แล้ว จงละทิ้งเขาเสีย”
Lion (siṃha) speaking to the bear (deduced from narrative flow; the lion urges betrayal)
Tirtha: Setu-kṣetra (yātrā-mārga)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis / inquirer
Scene: A sleeping prince under a tree; a figure identified as Hari, Nanda’s son, whispers to the bear to abandon the sleeper—an intense moral moment framed by moonlit secrecy.
FAQs
Dharma is tested by temptation—when another is vulnerable, the call to betrayal arises, and righteousness must refuse it.
The Setu/Rāmeśvara pilgrimage frame is implicit; the verse focuses on a moral crisis within that sacred narrative.
No ritual is prescribed; the verse presents an ethical provocation.