Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 73
यत्र धर्मो ह्यधर्मेण पीड्यते सुरसत्तम । असत्येन तथा सत्यं भूपाश्चौरैः सदैव तु
yatra dharmo hyadharmeṇa pīḍyate surasattama | asatyena tathā satyaṃ bhūpāścauraiḥ sadaiva tu
اے بہترین دیوتا! اس جگہ دھرم کو اَدھرم ستاتا ہے؛ جھوٹ سچ کو کچل دیتا ہے، اور بادشاہ ہمیشہ چوروں کی طرح سمجھے جاتے ہیں (یا خود چور صفت ہو جاتے ہیں)۔
Skanda (deduced; exact speaker not explicit in snippet)
Listener: surasattama (addressed deity)
Scene: A symbolic courtroom/royal hall where Dharma is bound and Adharma enthroned; Truth is pushed down by Falsehood; a king is shown with a thief’s shadow—illustrating political and moral inversion.
FAQs
A society collapses when truth and dharma are persecuted; governance becomes predatory and trust dissolves.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it describes conditions contrary to a dhārmic sacred land.
None; it is a moral and social diagnosis rather than a ritual injunction.