Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38
विषण्णवदनाः सर्वे भयभीता समंततः । धावतो भक्षितास्ताभिर्देवताभिः सुनिर्दयम्
viṣaṇṇavadanāḥ sarve bhayabhītā samaṃtataḥ | dhāvato bhakṣitāstābhirdevatābhiḥ sunirdayam
سب کے چہرے مایوسی سے جھکے ہوئے تھے اور ہر طرف سے خوف زدہ تھے؛ وہ بھاگے، اور بھاگتے ہی اُن دیویوں نے بے رحمی سے انہیں نگل لیا۔
Narrator (contextual; specific speaker not stated in snippet)
Listener: dvija-sattama (best of twice-born)
Scene: A terrified crowd fleeing in all directions, faces downcast; behind them fierce radiant devatās pursue and consume them, conveying inexorable divine retribution.
FAQs
Adharma that terrorizes the world ultimately meets divine retribution; fear arises when one confronts the consequences of wrongdoing.
The setting is within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; the excerpt does not name a specific tīrtha.
None; the verse narrates the defeat of the hostile party.