Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48
आपृच्छि धर्मराजेन चित्रगुप्तोथ मापते । धर्माधर्मं विचार्यास्य कथयाशु द्विजन्मनः
āpṛcchi dharmarājena citraguptotha māpate | dharmādharmaṃ vicāryāsya kathayāśu dvijanmanaḥ
তেতিয়া ধৰ্মৰাজ যমে চিত্ৰগুপ্তক সুধিলে: “হে প্ৰভু, এই দ্বিজৰ ধৰ্ম-অধৰ্ম শীঘ্ৰে বিচাৰ কৰি মোক কোৱা।”
Narrator (contextual); Yama addresses Citragupta
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other ṛṣis (frame) / internal audience (contextual)
Scene: A solemn court of Yama: Dharmarāja seated with staff/daṇḍa, Citragupta holding palm-leaf ledger, a trembling brāhmaṇa-soul awaiting verdict; attendants and scales of justice implied.
FAQs
Actions are weighed as dharma and adharma; accountability before Dharmarāja is inevitable.
The broader narrative belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa (glory of Kāśī/Varanasi), though this verse itself focuses on karmic judgment.
No specific rite is prescribed here; it introduces the formal examination of a person’s deeds.