Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 45
सुरां पीत्वा द्विजं हत्वा द्विजानां निष्कृतिः स्मृता । धेनुविक्रयकर्तॄणां प्रायश्चित्तं न विद्यते
surāṃ pītvā dvijaṃ hatvā dvijānāṃ niṣkṛtiḥ smṛtā | dhenuvikrayakartṝṇāṃ prāyaścittaṃ na vidyate
“Bagi kaum brāhmaṇa, penebusan (prāyaścitta) diajarkan bahkan untuk meminum minuman keras dan membunuh seorang brāhmaṇa; namun bagi pelaku jual-beli sapi, tiada atonemen yang ditemukan.”
Jamadagni (continued)
Type: kshetra
Listener: King (and the māhātmya audience)
Scene: A didactic, almost judicial scene: Jamadagni pronounces a grave rule; behind him symbolic panels show surā-pāna and brahma-hatyā with ‘expiation possible’, while cow-sale is marked with a stark ‘no atonement’ signifier—conveying hierarchy.
FAQs
Undermining the sacred support of dharma and yajña (the cow) is portrayed as a uniquely destructive transgression.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a dharmic warning within the tīrtha-narrative.
It discusses prāyaścitta in principle, emphasizing that cow-selling is treated as beyond ordinary expiation in this teaching.