Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 92
यत्ते संदह्यते चेतः शृणु तन्मे युधिष्ठिर । नैकापि नृप लोकेऽस्मिन् भ्रूणहत्या सुदुस्त्यजा
yatte saṃdahyate cetaḥ śṛṇu tanme yudhiṣṭhira | naikāpi nṛpa loke'smin bhrūṇahatyā sudustyajā
Ce qui embrase ton cœur, écoute-le de ma bouche, ô Yudhiṣṭhira. Ô Roi, en ce monde nul péché n’est aussi difficile à rejeter que le bhrūṇahatya, le meurtre de l’embryon.
Vyāsa (deduced, addressing Yudhiṣṭhira)
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira
Scene: A concerned king (Yudhiṣṭhira) sits with furrowed brow, heart ‘burning’ with moral anxiety; a sage addresses him calmly, indicating a path of expiation.
FAQs
Moral gravity is acknowledged: some actions deeply wound dharma and conscience, requiring profound purification and sincere repentance.
The verse sits within the Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha discourse; the surrounding passage connects such sins to purification through the praised tīrtha and Soma-nātha worship.
No specific rite is named here; it introduces a teaching about the severity of bhrūṇahatya as context for later tīrtha-based purification.