Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17
अथान्ये तापसा रात्रौ संयुताश्च च धृतायुधाः । अथोच्छेदं गते धर्मे पीडितास्त्रिदिवौकसः
athānye tāpasā rātrau saṃyutāśca ca dhṛtāyudhāḥ | athocchedaṃ gate dharme pīḍitāstridivaukasaḥ
پھر دوسرے تپسوی رات کے وقت جمع ہوئے، ہتھیار تھامے اٹھ کھڑے ہوئے۔ جب دھرم مٹنے لگا تو تریدیو کے باسی دیوتا سخت اذیت میں مبتلا ہو گئے۔
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: Night in a forested hermitage near the sea; ascetics gather with staffs and weapons, faces tense; in the sky, devas appear troubled as dharma seems to fade like a dimming lamp.
FAQs
When dharma approaches ruin, even celestial beings suffer; spiritual order is a cosmic concern, not merely a human one.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra frames the episode, emphasizing how sacred regions become stages for dharma’s protection and renewal.
No explicit prescription; the verse portrays emergency defense by tapasvins amid collapse of dharma.