Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 61
यम उवाच । अप्रमाणं विभो कर्म संप्रयातं ममोचितम् । शुभाशुभपरिज्ञानं सर्वेषामेव देहिनाम्
yama uvāca | apramāṇaṃ vibho karma saṃprayātaṃ mamocitam | śubhāśubhaparijñānaṃ sarveṣāmeva dehinām
Yama sprach: «O Herr, die mir zugewiesene Aufgabe ist maßlos und unbeständig geworden; denn ich muss die guten und die schlechten Taten aller verkörperten Wesen erkennen.»
Yama
Tirtha: Sārasvata Mahātīrtha (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Vibhu (a supreme lord addressed as ‘deva’; in context likely Brahmā/Īśvara depending on recension)
Scene: Yama, solemn and burdened, speaks to a higher deity (Vibhu), holding a ledger or pāśa; behind him, countless subtle beings await judgment, emphasizing the ‘measureless’ task.
FAQs
Cosmic order depends on dharma and karmic discernment; even divine offices feel strain when extraordinary grace (like tīrtha power) alters outcomes.
The verse is part of the praise of a Nāgarakhaṇḍa tīrtha whose grace affects the fate of beings beyond ordinary karmic accounting.
No direct rite is prescribed here; it frames the karmic context behind the tīrtha’s exceptional merit.