Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 16
अतोऽस्माभिरिहानीता निरयं यातु वा न वा । अनया साधितो बाल्ये पुण्यलेशोऽस्ति वा न वा
ato'smābhirihānītā nirayaṃ yātu vā na vā | anayā sādhito bālye puṇyaleśo'sti vā na vā
Therefore we have brought her here—whether she should go to hell or not. Tell us: in her childhood, did she accomplish even the slightest trace of merit (puṇya), or not?
Yamadūta
Listener: Śiva-dūtas (and implicitly the adjudicating authority)
Scene: A solemn tribunal-like moment: emissaries present an old woman; the narrator/authority figure questions whether she has any trace of childhood merit; scrolls or symbolic balance scales suggest karmic accounting; atmosphere tense yet compassionate.
FAQs
In Purāṇic ethics, even a minute merit can alter destiny; moral causality is subtle and decisive.
No site is mentioned; the verse frames a karmic inquiry within the Śiva–Yama narrative.
None directly; it alludes generally to merit (puṇya) gained through dharmic acts.