Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 26
नारायणेन सहितं नरं नरकनिर्भयम् । दुर्योधनेन सहिता बांधवास्ते यतो हताः । पितृतुल्याश्च राजानस्तेन वै पापभाजनम्
nārāyaṇena sahitaṃ naraṃ narakanirbhayam | duryodhanena sahitā bāṃdhavāste yato hatāḥ | pitṛtulyāśca rājānastena vai pāpabhājanam
«Nara—accompagné de Nārāyaṇa et sans crainte même de l’enfer—est blâmé parce que tes parents, alliés de Duryodhana, ont été tués, et que des rois semblables à des pères ont aussi péri ; ainsi, on le tient vraiment pour un réceptacle de péché.»
Śiva (Īśvara) (narrating; reporting the rationale given)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (implied chapter setting)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A tense post-war moral reckoning: Nara with Nārāyaṇa nearby; the speaker indicts him as a ‘vessel of sin’ due to the slaughter of kinsmen and elder-like kings allied with Duryodhana.
FAQs
The verse highlights how outcomes of conflict generate accusations of sin, pointing to the Purāṇic need for discernment and subsequent atonement practices.
The account unfolds within Prabhāsa-kṣetra’s māhātmya, where such moral burdens are ultimately resolved through tīrtha-centered purification.
No explicit prescription is stated in this verse; it provides the stated ‘reason’ for considering someone pāpabhājana, leading into prāyaścitta teaching.