Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 21
विश्वासघातिनां लोके महाकष्टा भवंति हि । न हि मित्रद्रुहां पापं नश्येयज्ञायुतैरपि
viśvāsaghātināṃ loke mahākaṣṭā bhavaṃti hi | na hi mitradruhāṃ pāpaṃ naśyeyajñāyutairapi
In dieser Welt erleiden die Verräter des Vertrauens wahrlich großes Leid. Die Sünde, einen Freund zu verraten, vergeht nicht einmal durch Zehntausende von Opfern.
Ṛkṣa (the bear; later revealed as a Bhṛgu-line sage in disguise)
Tirtha: Setukṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer sages/assembly (frame)
Scene: A didactic forest-night scene: a bear admonishes about betrayal; the moral weight is shown as darker than mountains, with sacrificial fires fading in the background.
FAQs
Betrayal of trust—especially toward a friend—is a grave adharma whose karmic weight is not easily neutralized.
The verse belongs to Setukhaṇḍa, the Setu/Rāmeśvaram sacred landscape, where dharma is taught through narrative exempla.
Yajña is referenced to stress that even massive sacrificial merit cannot readily erase the sin of betraying a friend.