Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 31
न तं स्वयं महादेवः स्वशिष्यं सूदयिष्यति । विषवृक्षमपि स्थाप्य कश्छिनत्ति पुनः स्वयम्
na taṃ svayaṃ mahādevaḥ svaśiṣyaṃ sūdayiṣyati | viṣavṛkṣamapi sthāpya kaśchinatti punaḥ svayam
مہادیو خود اپنے شاگرد کو قتل نہیں کرے گا۔ زہریلا درخت بھی لگا کر، پھر کون اپنے ہی ہاتھ سے اسے کاٹتا ہے؟
Narrator (contextual continuation; likely Bṛhaspati’s explanatory reasoning)
Scene: Śiva (or a narrator) explains with a vivid metaphor: a poisonous tree once planted cannot be cut by the planter himself; the devotee/listener absorbs the moral weight; a symbolic poison tree appears in the background.
FAQs
Actions create responsibilities; one does not lightly destroy what one has empowered—hence dharma demands forethought.
No tīrtha is mentioned in this verse; it uses a moral analogy within the larger narrative.
None; the verse is a nyāya (illustrative maxim) supporting an argument.