Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 35
अत्र कात्यायनेनोक्तं यद्वचः सुमहात्मना । तच्छृण्वन्तु द्विजाः सर्वे प्रायश्चित्ती तथाप्ययम्
atra kātyāyanenoktaṃ yadvacaḥ sumahātmanā | tacchṛṇvantu dvijāḥ sarve prāyaścittī tathāpyayam
„Hier sind die Worte, die der großherzige Kātyāyana gesprochen hat—mögen alle Zweimalgeborenen sie hören. Und doch gibt es auch für diesen Fall ein Prāyaścitta, eine Sühne.“
Śāṇḍilya (quoted within Sūta’s narration)
Type: kshetra
Listener: sarve dvijāḥ (all twice-born present)
Scene: Śāṇḍilya shifts from rebuke to instruction, invoking Kātyāyana’s words; brāhmaṇas sit attentively as in a dharma-sabhā, palms joined, ready to hear prāyaścitta.
FAQs
Scriptural authority provides structured expiation; dharma offers remedies even for grave situations.
The passage proceeds to glorify Viṣṇupadī Gaṅgā in this kṣetra as a direct means of purification.
Prāyaścitta (expiation) is explicitly introduced, with details enumerated in the following verses.