Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 15
ततः संचिन्त्य सुचिरं स्मृतिशास्त्राण्यनेकशः । प्रायश्चित्तं ददौ तेषां सर्वेषां स द्विजन्मनाम्
tataḥ saṃcintya suciraṃ smṛtiśāstrāṇyanekaśaḥ | prāyaścittaṃ dadau teṣāṃ sarveṣāṃ sa dvijanmanām
Alors, après avoir longuement médité et consulté à maintes reprises divers textes de Smṛti, il prescrivit des prāyaścitta (expiations) pour tous ces deux-fois-nés.
Unspecified narrator (within the chapter’s narrative flow)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A learned Brahmin/sage sits with palm-leaf manuscripts, contemplating; around him, anxious dvijas await. He then announces expiations, bringing relief and order.
FAQs
Purification is not arbitrary; it is guided by śāstra and careful discernment, even within a Purāṇic tīrtha narrative.
The broader setting is a tīrtha within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; the verse focuses on prescribing expiation rather than naming the site.
Prāyaścitta is prescribed generally here; specific forms (like Cāndrāyaṇa, homa, etc.) appear in the next verses.