Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 81
पालयिष्ये प्रजाश्चेति पूर्वं ते समयः कृतः । तांस्तथावादिनः सर्वान्ब्रह्मर्षीनब्रवीत्तदा
pālayiṣye prajāśceti pūrvaṃ te samayaḥ kṛtaḥ | tāṃstathāvādinaḥ sarvānbrahmarṣīnabravīttadā
‘میں رعایا کی حفاظت کروں گا’—یہی تمہارا پہلے کا عہد تھا۔ پھر اس نے اُن سب برہمرشیوں سے، جو یوں کہہ رہے تھے، خطاب کیا۔
Purāṇic narrator (introducing Vena’s reply to the sages)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka-led ṛṣis (frame typical)
Scene: The sages remind Vena of his earlier pledge to protect the people; Vena responds, addressing the assembled brahmarṣis—tension between remembered duty and present defiance.
FAQs
Kingship is framed as a binding commitment to protect the people; breaking that trust is a breach of dharma.
Prabhāsakṣetra is the overarching māhātmya context; the verse itself is about rajadharma.
None; it references a moral-social obligation (protection of prajā).