Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 62
रात्रौरात्रौ गृहे यस्मिन्कलहो जायते मिथः । बालानां प्रेक्षमाणानां यत्र वृद्धश्च पूर्वतः । भक्षयेत्तत्र वै हृष्टा भूतैः सह समाविश
rātraurātrau gṛhe yasminkalaho jāyate mithaḥ | bālānāṃ prekṣamāṇānāṃ yatra vṛddhaśca pūrvataḥ | bhakṣayettatra vai hṛṣṭā bhūtaiḥ saha samāviśa
Dans la maison où, nuit après nuit, naissent des querelles entre eux—où les enfants regardent et même l’aîné ouvre la marche—là, réjouis, les bhūtas entrent et dévorent la paix et le bien-être.
Skanda (deduced; admonitory instruction)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (Pārvatī) (implied by vocatives in adjacent verses)
Scene: A dimly lit household at night: family members quarrel; children watch anxiously; an elder gestures angrily; shadowy bhūtas hover at the threshold, entering with grim delight as the home’s lamp flickers.
FAQs
Persistent domestic strife—especially modeled by elders—destroys auspiciousness and becomes a doorway to negative influences.
The moral teaching is embedded in Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, reinforcing how sacred places require sacred conduct.
No specific rite; the prescription is ethical: end nightly quarrels and uphold elder-led harmony as a form of dharma.