Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 33
य आप्तत्वेन संपृष्टो दुर्बुद्धिं संप्रयच्छति । स याति नरकं घोरं यावदाभूतसंप्लवम्
ya āptatvena saṃpṛṣṭo durbuddhiṃ saṃprayacchati | sa yāti narakaṃ ghoraṃ yāvadābhūtasaṃplavam
যে ব্যক্তি বিশ্বাসযোগ্য বলে জিজ্ঞাসিত হয়েও কুবুদ্ধি তথা ক্ষতিকর পরামর্শ দেয়, সে মহাপ্রলয় পর্যন্ত ভয়ংকর নরকে পতিত হয়।
Tāpasa (the ascetic teacher)
Tirtha: Kāśī (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Naimiṣāraṇya sages (implied)
Scene: A stark moral tableau: the adviser’s words appear as dark arrows leading toward a terrifying naraka landscape, contrasted with the calm forest where counsel should have been pure.
FAQs
Those entrusted as guides must speak dharma; misleading counsel given under the guise of trust brings severe karmic consequence.
Kāśī is the chapter’s sacred horizon, but this verse teaches universal dharma regarding truthful, beneficial guidance.
None; it is an ethical injunction about counsel and accountability.