Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7
इत्थं तस्य गुणग्रामान्विकथ्य बहुशः खगाः । नाद्यापि वृण्वते राज्ये कमपि स्वैरचारिणः
itthaṃ tasya guṇagrāmānvikathya bahuśaḥ khagāḥ | nādyāpi vṛṇvate rājye kamapi svairacāriṇaḥ
ครั้นเหล่านกทั้งหลายพรรณนาหมู่คุณความดีของเขาซ้ำแล้วซ้ำเล่า จึงประกาศว่า แม้ถึงกาลบัดนี้ก็ยังไม่เลือกผู้ใดเป็นพระราชา หากผู้นั้นประพฤติตามอำเภอใจตน
Skanda (deduced Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative voice)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame)
Scene: A council-like gathering of birds in a forested royal domain, repeatedly recounting a former king’s virtues, refusing to accept a capricious ruler; the mood is sober and didactic.
FAQs
Authority should be grounded in dharma and virtue, not in self-willed, arbitrary conduct.
The verse sits within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa (Kāśī/Varanasi) narrative frame, though this particular line emphasizes dharmic governance rather than a named tīrtha.
None; the verse is ethical instruction (rāja-dharma) rather than a vrata, dāna, or snāna rule.