Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 32
ऋषय ऊचुः । असमर्थाः परित्राणे जिताहारास्तपोन्विताः । नगरेणेह किं कुर्मस्तव भक्तिमभीप्सवः
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | asamarthāḥ paritrāṇe jitāhārāstaponvitāḥ | nagareṇeha kiṃ kurmastava bhaktimabhīpsavaḥ
رِشیوں نے کہا: ہم حفاظت اور نظمِ حکومت کے اہل نہیں؛ ہم خوراک میں ضبط رکھنے والے اور تپسیا سے آراستہ ہیں۔ اے پروردگار، ہم جو صرف تیری بھکتی چاہتے ہیں، اس شہر کے ساتھ یہاں کیا کریں؟
Ṛṣayas (Sages)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: The divine instructor addressed as ‘tvaṃ’ (likely the presiding deity/authority in the episode)
Scene: A group of austere sages—thin, radiant, with matted hair—speak humbly with folded hands, expressing incapacity for protection/governance and asking how to live with a city when they seek only devotion.
FAQs
True seekers prioritize devotion and austerity, and may hesitate to accept worldly burdens without divine assurance.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra, where sages deliberate on how best to live and serve within a sacred landscape.
None directly; it is a question about suitability for civic responsibility versus devotional life.