Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 95
वृथा धनार्जनं कृत्वा व्यवश्चैव तथा वृथा । मृतानां तेन प्रेतत्वं भविष्यति न संशयः
vṛthā dhanārjanaṃ kṛtvā vyavaścaiva tathā vṛthā | mṛtānāṃ tena pretatvaṃ bhaviṣyati na saṃśayaḥ
إذ جمعوا المالَ عبثًا وعاشوا عبثًا كذلك—فبذلك، للراحلين تنشأ حالةُ البريتَا، الروحِ الهائمة؛ ولا شكّ في ذلك.
Sāvitrī (deduced from immediate context of the adhyāya narrative)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A miserly figure hoards coins while a shadowy preta-form rises behind; funeral smoke and a lonely crossroads evoke wandering; a distant Prabhāsa shrine suggests the missed chance of dharmic transformation.
FAQs
A life spent in hollow gain and purposeless conduct leads to suffering after death; dharma-filled living is portrayed as the safeguard.
Prabhāsakṣetra, within whose māhātmya this ethical warning is embedded.
No direct rite is prescribed here; it functions as a moral injunction to live meaningfully and dharmically to avoid preta-state consequences.