Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 150
करंधम उवाच । पितृभ्यो दीयते श्राद्धं स्वकर्मवशगाश्च ते । स्वर्गस्था नरकस्था वा कथं तैरुपभुज्यते
karaṃdhama uvāca | pitṛbhyo dīyate śrāddhaṃ svakarmavaśagāśca te | svargasthā narakasthā vā kathaṃ tairupabhujyate
Karaṃdhama sprach: „Śrāddha wird den Pitṛs dargebracht, doch sie stehen unter der Macht ihres eigenen Karma. Ob sie im Himmel weilen oder in der Hölle — wie können sie genießen, was wir darbringen?“
Karaṃdhama
Scene: King Karaṃdhama respectfully questions a sage: a śrāddha setup is visible, while imagined realms of svarga and naraka appear as contrasting vignettes, highlighting the doubt about access.
FAQs
It raises a dharmic doubt: if beings are bound by karma and located in different realms, the mechanism of Śrāddha’s efficacy must be understood through Purāṇic cosmology.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the focus is on the general Purāṇic doctrine of Śrāddha and Pitṛ-satisfaction.
Śrāddha (ancestral offering) is referenced as a rite performed for the Pitṛs.