Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 78
स्वभक्तांस्तान्न दुःखेभ्यः कस्माद्रक्षंति मानवान् । विशेषात्केपि दृश्यंते दुःखमग्नाः सुरान्रताः
svabhaktāṃstānna duḥkhebhyaḥ kasmādrakṣaṃti mānavān | viśeṣātkepi dṛśyaṃte duḥkhamagnāḥ surānratāḥ
为何诸天不护佑那些作为其自身信众的人类，使其免于苦难？确实还见到有人——奉事诸天、守持誓戒（vrata）——却沉没于忧苦之中。
Unspecified narrator within Māheśvarakhaṇḍa context (likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in discourse)
Listener: The 'bāla' interlocutor
Scene: A devotee performing vrata—fasting, offering lamps—yet surrounded by signs of hardship (illness, poverty, storm). Above, devatā forms appear distant, while an inner light at the devotee’s heart suggests grace as endurance and insight.
FAQs
Devotion alone does not always prevent the experience of sorrow; karmic causes and other dharmic principles still operate.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the focus is the general question of suffering among devotees.
None explicitly; it references being devoted to the gods and engaged in vows/observances.