Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 65
उवाच वचनं सत्यं सभामध्ये हसन्निव । अस्ति तत्कारणं येन चाणक्यः पापपूरुषः
uvāca vacanaṃ satyaṃ sabhāmadhye hasanniva | asti tatkāraṇaṃ yena cāṇakyaḥ pāpapūruṣaḥ
Mitten in der Versammlung sprach Yama wahre Worte, als ob er lächelte: „Es gibt einen Grund, weshalb jener sündige Mann, Cāṇakya, nicht hierher kam.“
Yama (deduced from immediate context: “Yama shook his head… then spoke in the assembly”)
Listener: The petitioners/messengers (implied) and the assembled court
Scene: Yama, in the center of the assembly, speaks with calm authority and a faint smile; the court listens as he reveals a hidden cause for Cāṇakya’s non-arrival.
FAQs
Even a person burdened with sin may be transformed by a decisive dharmic cause—often the power of a sacred place or act—recognized even in Yama’s court.
The verse is part of the Revā (Narmadā) cycle, where the ‘cause’ is soon clarified as the extraordinary merit of death in a specific Narmadā tīrtha.
No direct prescription here; it introduces a doctrinal explanation about why someone did not reach Yama’s realm.