Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
गालव उवाच । अपुत्रस्य गतिर्नास्ति मृतः स्वर्गं न गच्छति । द्वादशानामपि तथा यद्येकोऽपि न विद्यते
gālava uvāca | aputrasya gatirnāsti mṛtaḥ svargaṃ na gacchati | dvādaśānāmapi tathā yadyeko'pi na vidyate
Gālava dit : «Pour celui qui n’a pas de fils, il n’est point de voie (gati) convenable ; à sa mort, il ne va pas au ciel. De même, parmi les douze sortes de fils reconnues, s’il n’en existe pas même un seul, on dit que cette conséquence s’ensuit».
Gālava
Listener: Brāhmaṇas/Ṛṣis
Scene: Gālava speaks with firm compassion, raising a hand in instructive gesture; Vidura listens, visibly sobered by the pronouncement about svarga and gati.
FAQs
It reflects a traditional dharma view that lineage and the continuation of rites are crucial for posthumous welfare.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is a doctrinal exchange embedded in the surrounding kṣetra-māhātmya narrative.
Implicitly, the necessity of having a son (in some recognized form) to sustain ancestral rites; no explicit ritual is described in this line.