ब्रह्मघ्ने च सुरापे च चौरे भग्नवते तथा । निष्कृतिर्विहिता सद्भिः कृतघ्ने नास्ति निष्कृतिः
brahmaghne ca surāpe ca caure bhagnavate tathā | niṣkṛtirvihitā sadbhiḥ kṛtaghne nāsti niṣkṛtiḥ
Pour le tueur d'un brāhmaṇa, pour le buveur d'alcool, pour le voleur, et de même pour celui qui trahit la confiance, les justes ont prescrit des moyens d'expiation ; mais pour l'ingrat, aucune expiation n'est déclarée.
Narrative context (speaker not explicit in this verse; likely within Sūta’s narration in Tīrtha-māhātmya)
Scene: A didactic moment: a sage enumerates grave sins and notes that expiation exists for them, but none for the ungrateful.
Dharma values gratitude as foundational; some sins may be ritually expiated, but ingratitude is portrayed as a deep moral rupture that resists easy atonement.
This verse gives a general dharma-principle within the Nāgara Khaṇḍa Tīrtha-māhātmya narrative; the specific site is clarified in the surrounding verses describing the local liṅga and shrine.
It references prāyaścitta in principle (niṣkṛti), without naming a specific rite in this verse.