Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 10
यत्र देवाश्च ऋषयस्तत्र गत्वा महासुरः । छद्मना वा बलेनैव विघ्नं प्रकुरुते नृप
yatra devāśca ṛṣayastatra gatvā mahāsuraḥ | chadmanā vā balenaiva vighnaṃ prakurute nṛpa
اے نَرپ! جہاں جہاں دیوتا اور رِشی جمع ہوتے، وہ مہااسُر بھی وہیں پہنچ جاتا اور فریب سے یا زورِ بازو سے رکاوٹیں کھڑی کر دیتا۔
Unspecified narrator (addressing a king; likely a Purāṇic narrator within Dharmāraṇya-kathā)
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira
Scene: A luminous gathering of devas and sages around a sacrificial fire or council; the asura arrives—sometimes disguised (chadma) as an ascetic, sometimes openly armed—casting a shadow and scattering the assembly.
FAQs
Even sacred gatherings attract opposition; dharma must be protected with vigilance against both deception (chadman) and brute force (bala).
The verse sits in the Dharmāraṇya context, pointing to the sanctity of Dharmāraṇya as a place where devas and ṛṣis assemble—hence it is implicitly glorified as a spiritually charged kṣetra.
No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated in this verse; it functions as narrative teaching about impediments (vighna) arising around sacred activity.