Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 10
पापिनो येषु पात्यंते ताञ्छृणुष्व महामते । कोटयः पंचपंचाशद्राजानश्चैकविंशति
pāpino yeṣu pātyaṃte tāñchṛṇuṣva mahāmate | koṭayaḥ paṃcapaṃcāśadrājānaścaikaviṃśati
Höre von mir, o Großgesinnter, über jene Höllen, in die die Sünder hinabgestürzt werden: ihrer sind fünfundfünfzig Koṭi, und einundzwanzig Hauptabteilungen, gleichsam ihre Könige.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) [deduced]
Listener: a ‘mahāmati’ interlocutor (unnamed in the verse)
Scene: A solemn narrator enumerates the vast divisions of hells—countless pits and realms below, overseen by ‘kings’ (chief divisions), evoking an ordered but terrifying moral universe.
FAQs
Actions have consequences—this verse introduces the doctrine of karmic retribution through the many narakas described in Purāṇic dharma.
No tīrtha is glorified in this verse; it transitions from Pātāla’s sacred liṅga to the lower realms of punishment.
None explicitly; the emphasis is on listening to the teaching (śravaṇa) about dharma and its consequences.