Skandapurana 7.13.3_148

7.13.3_148

na buddhipūrvaṃ te dagdhā mayā rājan ruṣāpi vā .
hatāste kālapakvena phalenaiva yathā khagāḥ ..5. .
aśvoyaṃ mama pārśvasthaḥ kenāpi viditātmanā .
hṛtasteṣāṃ vināśāya mā krudho5 nīyatāṃ hayaḥ . .6 ..

They were not deliberately burned by me, O king, nor in wrath; / they were killed just as birds [are knocked down] by a fruit ripened by time. / This horse was placed beside me by someone who knew what he was doing, / taken for their destruction; do not be angry, let the horse be taken."