Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 76
वसिष्ठ उवाच । राक्षसत्वं प्रपन्नेन त्वया पार्थिवसत्तम । ब्राह्मणा बहवो ध्वस्तास्तथा विध्वंसिता मखाः । तेषां त्वं पार्थिवश्रेष्ठ संस्पृष्टो ब्रह्महत्यया
vasiṣṭha uvāca | rākṣasatvaṃ prapannena tvayā pārthivasattama | brāhmaṇā bahavo dhvastāstathā vidhvaṃsitā makhāḥ | teṣāṃ tvaṃ pārthivaśreṣṭha saṃspṛṣṭo brahmahatyayā
Vasiṣṭha sprach: „O Bester der Könige, als du in den Zustand eines Rākṣasa verfielst, hast du viele Brāhmaṇas vernichtet, und ebenso wurden die Opferhandlungen zerstört. Darum, o erhabenster Herrscher, bist du vom Sündenmakel des Brāhmaṇa-Mordes (brahmahatyā) berührt.“
Vasiṣṭha
Listener: the king (pārthiva-sattama)
Scene: Sage Vasiṣṭha, composed and authoritative, pronounces the diagnosis; the king bows, shaken, as the words ‘brahmahatyā’ land like a thunderclap; ruined altars and fleeing brāhmaṇas appear as a symbolic backdrop/vision.
FAQs
Adharma that harms saints and disrupts yajña corrodes one’s spiritual standing; recognizing the cause is the first step toward rightful expiation.
No single tīrtha is named here; the teaching prepares for tīrtha-yātrā as the remedy in subsequent verses.
The verse diagnoses the fault (brahmahatyā); the explicit prescription (tīrtha-yātrā) follows shortly after.