Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 19
त्वां विना मे पतिर्मा भून्मरणे याचितं मया । तदांतरिक्षे राजेन्द्र वागुवाचाशरीरिणी । आदौ पापफलं भुक्त्वा पश्चा त्स्वर्गं गमिष्यसि
tvāṃ vinā me patirmā bhūnmaraṇe yācitaṃ mayā | tadāṃtarikṣe rājendra vāguvācāśarīriṇī | ādau pāpaphalaṃ bhuktvā paścā tsvargaṃ gamiṣyasi
«Que mon époux ne soit pas privé de toi»—ainsi priai-je à l’heure de la mort. Alors, ô roi des rois, une voix sans corps retentit dans le ciel : «D’abord tu goûteras le fruit du péché ; ensuite tu iras au ciel».
A female figure narrating; includes an aśarīriṇī vāk (bodiless voice) as the oracle
Listener: Rājendra (king)
Scene: A dying woman prays that her husband not be separated from the king; above, the sky opens with a luminous, unseen voice; the king stands humbled as the decree of staged karmic fruit is pronounced.
FAQs
Karma ripens in sequence: even one destined for svarga may first undergo the consequences of prior wrongdoing.
The episode belongs to the Vastrāpatha-kṣetra māhātmya in Prabhāsa, where divine speech confirms moral causality around the tirtha narrative.
No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse presents a karmic oracle and its order of fruition.