Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 18
धिग्धिक्पापसमाचार जिह्वा ते शतधा ततः । किं न याति यदेवं त्वं प्रजल्पसि विगर्हितम्
dhigdhikpāpasamācāra jihvā te śatadhā tataḥ | kiṃ na yāti yadevaṃ tvaṃ prajalpasi vigarhitam
«Fi, fi sur toi, à la conduite pécheresse ! Que ta langue se fende aussitôt en cent morceaux. Pourquoi ne tombe-t-elle pas, lorsque tu prononces de telles paroles blâmables ?»
Brāhmaṇas (dvijottamāḥ)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A lead brāhmaṇa points accusingly, face fierce; the condemned man recoils. The curse imagery is visceral—tongue splitting—shown symbolically as a jagged red lightning motif near the mouth rather than gore.
FAQs
Speech is a karmic act; censurable words are treated as adharma and invite severe moral condemnation.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as ethical rebuke within the larger tīrtha-narrative.
None directly; the verse is a reprimand that leads into prāyaścitta reasoning.