Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 68
कश्यप उवाच । सर्वभक्षः सदा सोऽस्तु न्यासलोभं करोतु वा । कूटसाक्षित्वमभ्ये तु बिसस्तैन्यं करोति यः
kaśyapa uvāca | sarvabhakṣaḥ sadā so'stu nyāsalobhaṃ karotu vā | kūṭasākṣitvamabhye tu bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ
Kaśyapa sprach: „Wer Lotusstängel stiehlt, der werde stets ein Allesfresser, selbst von Unreinem; oder ihn treibe die Gier nach anvertrauten Hinterlagen; und auch die Schuld des falschen Zeugnisses möge ihn treffen.“
Kaśyapa
Type: kshetra
Scene: Sage Kaśyapa, authoritative and austere, pronounces a stern imprecation; the other sages listen with grave faces, the sacred lake behind them, the missing lotus-stalks implied by an empty space on the bank.
FAQs
Theft in a sacred context corrupts multiple dimensions of dharma—purity of food, integrity with trusts, and truthfulness.
The setting is a tīrtha within the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, but this verse does not specify the name.
No ritual is prescribed; it states a dharmic imprecation linking a particular sin (theft) with further degradations (impure eating, breach of trust, perjury).