Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 157
भार्योवाच । अतीते पञ्चमे चाह्नि त्विन्धनं क्षिपतस्तु ते । गृहपश्चाद्गतो बालो ह्यज्ञानाद्घातितस्त्वया
bhāryovāca | atīte pañcame cāhni tvindhanaṃ kṣipatastu te | gṛhapaścādgato bālo hyajñānādghātitastvayā
Die Gattin sprach: „Am fünften Tage, als du Brennholz warfst, ging ein Knabe hinter dem Haus vorbei; aus Unwissenheit hast du ihn getötet.“
Govinda’s wife
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira (frame) / husband (within story)
Scene: The wife, composed yet anguished, speaks the truth: a remembered daytime scene of throwing firewood near the back of the house; a boy passing unseen; the fatal accident implied rather than shown.
FAQs
Even unintended harm creates moral responsibility; dharma requires acknowledgement and remedial action.
The tīrtha context is the Revā–Eraṇḍī Saṅgama, within whose mahātmya such moral narratives are taught.
Implicitly points toward prāyaścitta (expiation) for the sin of killing, though not stated in this verse.