Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
भर्तृयज्ञ उवाच । यस्य नो विद्यते पुत्र औरसश्च महीपते । चतुर्णां स्वपितॄणां तु कथं स स्याच्चतुर्थकः
bhartṛyajña uvāca | yasya no vidyate putra aurasaśca mahīpate | caturṇāṃ svapitṝṇāṃ tu kathaṃ sa syāccaturthakaḥ
Bhartṛyajña dit : «Ô roi, si un homme n’a pas de fils—nul fils légitime issu de lui—comment pourrait-il devenir le “quatrième” parmi ses quatre ancêtres ?»
Bhartṛyajña
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ānarta (māhīpati)
Scene: Bhartṛyajña addresses the king, illustrating the ‘four ancestors’ concept—perhaps with symbolic depiction of three pitṛs behind and the living performer in front—showing the missing ‘fourth’ when no son exists.
FAQs
Continuity of ancestral rites is a key dharmic concern; the text frames the problem of lineage and ritual succession when an aurasa son is absent.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of a broader tīrtha-centered discourse that includes ritual law and merit.
It references the ancestral framework (four forefathers) tied to śrāddha and sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, questioning how the deceased is ritually integrated without a son.