Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
कस्यचित्त्वथकालस्य यमः प्राह स्वकिंकरम् । ऊर्ध्वकेशं सुरक्ताक्षं कृष्णदन्तं भयानकम्
kasyacittvathakālasya yamaḥ prāha svakiṃkaram | ūrdhvakeśaṃ suraktākṣaṃ kṛṣṇadantaṃ bhayānakam
Vào một thời điểm nọ, Diêm Vương bảo với chính sứ giả của mình—kẻ tóc dựng ngược, mắt đỏ rực, răng đen sì, dáng vẻ ghê rợn đáng sợ.
Sūta (deduced from narrative context; explicit speaker appears at 8 as “Sūta uvāca”)
Listener: Ṛṣis
Scene: Yama, regal and stern, addresses a terrifying servant (yamakiṅkara/yamadūta): hair bristling upward, red eyes, black teeth—an embodiment of fear and karmic retribution.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma portrays death as governed by cosmic order: Yama’s messengers act under command, reflecting karmic administration rather than randomness.
The verse shifts from place-glory to the moral-cosmic narrative; the setting remains connected to Madhurā in the surrounding verses.
None; it introduces Yama’s fearsome messenger as part of the story.