Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 81
विश्वा मित्र उवाच । शृणु राजन्प्रवक्ष्यामि प्रायश्चित्तं तु यच्चरेत् । आश्वासनेन शुद्ध्यर्थं कुतांबूलस्य भक्षणात्
viśvā mitra uvāca | śṛṇu rājanpravakṣyāmi prāyaścittaṃ tu yaccaret | āśvāsanena śuddhyarthaṃ kutāṃbūlasya bhakṣaṇāt
Viśvāmitra dit : «Écoute, ô Roi ; je vais exposer l’expiation (prāyaścitta) qu’il convient d’accomplir. Pour la purification—après avoir consommé un bétel impropre—qu’on accomplisse le rite d’“āśvāsana”, geste d’apaisement et d’assurance».
Viśvāmitra
Listener: King
Scene: Viśvāmitra, austere and radiant, begins instruction: right hand raised in teaching mudrā; the king listens intently. A small ritual setup suggests ‘āśvāsana’: kusa grass, water pot, lamp, and a calm seated posture indicating pacification.
FAQs
When impurity arises from error, dharma provides structured expiation—restoring purity through prescribed pacificatory acts.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is a prāyaścitta instruction embedded in a Tīrthamāhātmya chapter.
Performance of a prāyaścitta involving ‘āśvāsana’ for purification after consuming kutāmbūla.