Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26
अजीगर्तः सुतं हंतुमुपसर्पन्बुभुक्षितः । न चालिप्यत पापेन क्षुत्प्रतीघातमाचरन्
ajīgartaḥ sutaṃ haṃtumupasarpanbubhukṣitaḥ | na cālipyata pāpena kṣutpratīghātamācaran
Ajīgarta, tourmenté par la faim, s’approcha jusqu’à vouloir tuer son fils ; pourtant, n’agissant que pour écarter la mort par famine, il ne fut pas souillé par le péché.
Ṛṣis (continuing their explanation by example)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka et al. (frame) / internal: caṇḍāla and sages
Scene: A stark illustrative flashback: Ajīgarta, gaunt with hunger, moves toward his son with a weapon, yet the narrative voice frames it as an act driven by starvation, not innate sin.
FAQs
The tradition uses extreme examples to show that dire necessity can change moral evaluation under āpaddharma.
Prabhāsakṣetra, where dharma is taught with illustrative precedents for pilgrims and householders.
None; it is an illustrative precedent supporting the distress-ethics principle.