Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 25
तत्राहं चौररूपेण पापः स्तैन्यं समाश्रितः । सच्छूद्राणां कुले जातो देवब्राह्मणपूजकः
tatrāhaṃ caurarūpeṇa pāpaḥ stainyaṃ samāśritaḥ | sacchūdrāṇāṃ kule jāto devabrāhmaṇapūjakaḥ
Là, moi, pécheur, sous l’apparence d’un voleur, je m’adonnais au larcin. Né dans une honorable famille śūdra, j’étais pourtant un adorateur des dieux et un homme qui honorait les brāhmaṇas.
Unspecified first-person narrator within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya (deductively: a repentant thief relating his past)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: A addressed woman (varānane) implied in surrounding verses
Scene: A remorseful man narrates his past: a thief by conduct yet with folded hands before a small altar, offering respect to brāhmaṇas; the Prabhāsa pilgrimage crowd and temple lamps glow in the background, emphasizing inner conflict.
FAQs
Even one who has fallen into sin can retain seeds of dharma (reverence for gods and Brāhmaṇas), which become a basis for later purification.
Prabhāsa Kṣetra, where the speaker’s life-story of sin and potential redemption unfolds.
No direct prescription; the verse frames dharmic reverence (deva- and brāhmaṇa-pūjā) as a meaningful virtue.