Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 29
गौतम उवाच । प्रेतयोनौ प्रवृत्तानां केन नामानि कृत्स्नशः । युष्माकं निर्मितान्येवमेतन्मे कौतुकं महत्
gautama uvāca | pretayonau pravṛttānāṃ kena nāmāni kṛtsnaśaḥ | yuṣmākaṃ nirmitānyevametanme kautukaṃ mahat
Gautama dit : «Pour ceux qui sont entrés dans l’état de preta, par qui tous ces noms sont-ils attribués en entier ? Qu’ils aient été façonnés ainsi pour vous : voilà pour moi un grand sujet d’étonnement.»
Gautama Ṛṣi
Tirtha: Prabhāsa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka et al. (frame) / immediate: Gautama as questioner, pretas as respondents
Scene: Sage Gautama, calm and radiant, addresses a cluster of pretas; his hand raised in inquiry (praśna-mudrā). The pretas appear restless; the coastal sacred landscape frames the scene.
FAQs
The verse prompts inquiry into moral causality: conditions after death are not random but governed by discernible principles.
Prabhāsakṣetra, the dharmic landscape where sages interrogate subtle truths and receive instructive answers.
None explicitly; the question sets up later guidance about charity, conduct, and purity.