Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 46
मातोवाच । यदि पुत्र त्वया कार्यं प्रायश्चित्तं विशुद्धये । तदहं पतिना सार्धं प्रवेक्ष्यामि पुरोऽनलम्
mātovāca | yadi putra tvayā kāryaṃ prāyaścittaṃ viśuddhaye | tadahaṃ patinā sārdhaṃ pravekṣyāmi puro'nalam
Die Mutter sprach: „Wenn du, mein Sohn, zur Läuterung das prāyaścitta vollziehen musst, dann werde ich zusammen mit deinem Vater vor dir in das lodernde Feuer eintreten.“
Mother (mātā)
Type: kund
Scene: The mother, grief-stricken yet resolute, declares she and her husband will enter the fire before the son; the son stands stunned, the father silent.
FAQs
True purification (viśuddhi) must align with dharma and compassion; rash expiation is questioned by familial responsibility.
The immediate episode belongs to the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya and soon leads to Vāstupada, a sanctified place associated with a resolving sage.
Prāyaścitta (atonement) is referenced, specifically a fire-based act, though the verse frames it as a contested resolve rather than a recommended norm.