Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
विषादग्नेः कुलघ्नानां तया चैवात्मघातिनाम् । दंष्ट्रिभिर्हतदेहानां शृंगिभिश्च सुरेश्वर । प्रेतत्वं जायते नूनं सत्यमेतदसंशयम्
viṣādagneḥ kulaghnānāṃ tayā caivātmaghātinām | daṃṣṭribhirhatadehānāṃ śṛṃgibhiśca sureśvara | pretatvaṃ jāyate nūnaṃ satyametadasaṃśayam
أمّا من أكلته نارُ اليأس، وقاتلو السلالة، وكذلك من يقتل نفسه؛ ومن قُتل جسده على يد وحوشٍ ذات أنياب أو مخلوقاتٍ ذات قرون—يا ربّ الآلهة—فإنّ حال البريتا ينشأ يقينًا. هذا حقّ لا ريب فيه.
Viṣṇu
Listener: Audience of the māhātmya; immediate speakers are within a deva-dialogue
Scene: A liminal cremation-ground vision: afflicted pretas hovering near a śmaśāna, with Indra and the Lord (Madhusūdana) in dialogue, emphasizing compassion and the gravity of viṣāda and transgressive deaths.
FAQs
Despair, self-harm, and grievous social sin (kulaghna) are portrayed as producing preta-bhāva; Purāṇic dharma urges steadiness, restraint, and protection of life and lineage.
The Adhyāya’s underlying tīrtha frame is Dhārātīrtha, though this verse broadens into general causes of preta-hood.
None explicitly; it is an ethical-doctrinal enumeration of conditions leading to preta-gati.