Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 33
एकः पापानि कुरुते फलं भुंक्ते महाजनः । भोक्तारो विप्रमुच्यंते कर्ता दोषेण लिप्यते
ekaḥ pāpāni kurute phalaṃ bhuṃkte mahājanaḥ | bhoktāro vipramucyaṃte kartā doṣeṇa lipyate
Un seul commet les péchés, mais la grande maisonnée en consomme le fruit. Ceux qui ne font que participer sont délivrés; l’auteur, lui, se souille de la faute.
Ṛṣis (Sages)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A moral tableau: a thief confronted by serene sages; behind him a household receiving the fruits of wrongdoing; a subtle aura of ‘stain’ clinging to the doer while others remain comparatively unbound.
FAQs
Karmic accountability primarily adheres to the agent (kartā); benefiting from an act does not equal being its moral author.
No particular tīrtha is specified; the verse teaches dharma within the broader tīrtha-māhātmya narrative.
None; it is a principle of moral causality rather than a ritual directive.