Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 96
भुक्त्वा पुण्यफलं याति नरकं संशयः । अस्मिंश्च संशये प्रोक्तं मार्कंडेयेन श्रूयते
bhuktvā puṇyaphalaṃ yāti narakaṃ saṃśayaḥ | asmiṃśca saṃśaye proktaṃ mārkaṃḍeyena śrūyate
بعد أن يذوق ثمرة البرّ، يمضي إلى الجحيم—هذه هي الشكّة. وفي هذا الشكّ بعينه تُسمَع كلمات ماركاندييا (Mārkaṇḍeya) بوصفها تعليماً مُعتَمدًا.
Bāla (introducing Mārkaṇḍeya’s teaching/tradition)
Scene: A questioner raises a doubt before a venerable sage; behind them, a symbolic vision shows a soul ascending to a bright realm and then descending toward a dark pit as merit is exhausted.
FAQs
Karmic accounting is subtle: enjoyment of puṇya does not automatically cancel pāpa; the tradition addresses this sequencing.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse points to Mārkaṇḍeya’s doctrinal explanation.
None; it introduces a doctrinal discussion grounded in ṛṣi testimony.