Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
यः स्त्रीं भजति पापात्मा वृथा पाशुपतव्रती । सोऽतीतान्दश चाधाय पुरुषान्नरके पचेत्
yaḥ strīṃ bhajati pāpātmā vṛthā pāśupatavratī | so'tītāndaśa cādhāya puruṣānnarake pacet
Cet homme pécheur qui—tout en se disant voué au vœu Pāśupata—fréquente une femme dans une hypocrisie vaine, après avoir entraîné dix autres avec lui, est cuit en enfer.
Tāpasa (ascetic)
Type: kshetra
Listener: (Contextual) Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages
Scene: A severe ascetic branded as Pāśupata is shown as hypocritical; shadowy figures (the ‘ten others’) are dragged toward a blazing naraka cauldron—an allegory of moral contagion and karmic consequence.
FAQs
Hypocrisy in religious vows is treated as especially destructive: it harms both the practitioner and others, bringing severe karmic consequences.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the teaching appears within the broader Tīrthamāhātmya narrative frame.
The implied prescription is strict: a Pāśupata vratī must not violate brahmacarya; otherwise the act becomes ‘vṛthā’ (vain) and incurs grave karmaphala.