Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 1
सूत उवाच । एवं गणत्वमापन्ने ह्यन्धके दानवोत्तमे । तस्य पुत्रो वृकोनाम निरुत्साहो द्विषज्जये
sūta uvāca | evaṃ gaṇatvamāpanne hyandhake dānavottame | tasya putro vṛkonāma nirutsāho dviṣajjaye
سوت نے کہا: جب دانوؤں میں برتر اندھک اس طرح گن کا مرتبہ پا گیا، تو اس کا بیٹا جس کا نام وِرک تھا، دشمنوں پر فتح کے معاملے میں بے دلی کا شکار ہو گیا۔
Sūta
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra (chapter frame)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brāhmaṇas/Śaunaka’s assembly (implied by ‘brāhmaṇottamāḥ’ address style in adjacent verse)
Scene: Sūta narrates: Andhaka has become a gaṇa; his son Vṛka, dispirited, loses zeal for enemy-conquest—an image of a warrior’s confidence collapsing amid cosmic realignment.
FAQs
Power and status do not remove inner turmoil; dharma narratives often begin with a crisis that leads to tapas or refuge in a sacred kṣetra.
The broader passage is situated in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya, though this verse itself introduces characters.
None explicitly; it sets narrative context for later austerities and sacred-place merit.