Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 23
तस्मान्नैतानहं दीनांस्त्यक्त्वा मीनान्सुदुःखितान् । पदमात्रं तु यास्यामि किं पुनस्त्रिदशालयम्
tasmānnaitānahaṃ dīnāṃstyaktvā mīnānsuduḥkhitān | padamātraṃ tu yāsyāmi kiṃ punastridaśālayam
پس میں ان بے چارے، ترک کیے ہوئے، سخت دکھی مچھلیوں کو چھوڑ نہیں سکتا۔ میں ایک قدم بھی نہ بڑھاؤں گا—پھر دیوتاؤں کے دھام تک جانا تو کہاں!
Unnamed ṛṣi (contextual speaker within the narrative; later Śiva speaks at v.24)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrim-audience (implied)
Scene: A compassionate figure stands at the water’s edge refusing to depart; distressed fish in a drying pool/net are being rescued and released; the path to a shining celestial city is shown but ignored.
FAQs
True dharma values compassionate protection above personal gain—even above heavenly attainments.
Prabhāsakṣetra is the contextual pilgrimage landscape where such exemplary compassion is narrated.
None; the teaching is an ethical resolve: do not abandon beings in suffering, even for promised rewards.