Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35
न भवद्भ्यस्वहं स्वर्गं प्रयच्छामि कथंचन । दूतोऽवध्यो भवेद्राज्ञामपि वैरे सुदारुणे । एतस्मात्कारणाद्दूत न त्वां प्राणैर्वियोजये
na bhavadbhyasvahaṃ svargaṃ prayacchāmi kathaṃcana | dūto'vadhyo bhavedrājñāmapi vaire sudāruṇe | etasmātkāraṇāddūta na tvāṃ prāṇairviyojaye
“เราจะไม่ยกสวรรค์ให้พวกเจ้าเป็นอันขาด แม้ในศัตรูอันร้ายแรง กษัตริย์ก็ไม่ฆ่าทูต ด้วยเหตุนี้ โอ้ทูตเอ๋ย เราจะไม่พรากชีวิตเจ้า”
Dānava (Bāṣkali/Kaliṅga), replying to the envoy
Scene: A fierce Dānava addresses the envoy: refusal to yield heaven, yet declaring the envoy inviolable; tension between clenched weapons and a raised palm of restraint.
FAQs
Even adversaries are bound by dharma: the inviolability of envoys is upheld as a rule of righteous conduct.
No tīrtha is named; the verse emphasizes rāja-dharma within the Arbuda-khaṇḍa narrative.
None; it is an ethical injunction about conduct in conflict.