Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 41
मृताश्च पुरुषा विप्र स्वकर्मजनितां गतिम् । गच्छन्ति ते कथं तस्य सुतस्याश्रयमाययुः
mṛtāśca puruṣā vipra svakarmajanitāṃ gatim | gacchanti te kathaṃ tasya sutasyāśrayamāyayuḥ
ಹೇ ವಿಪ್ರ! ಮೃತರಾದ ಪುರುಷರು ಸ್ವಕರ್ಮಜನಿತ ಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ; ಹಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಅವರು ಪುತ್ರನ ಆಶ್ರಯವನ್ನು—ಅವನು ಮಾಡುವ ಶ್ರಾದ್ಧಾದಿ ಸಹಾಯವನ್ನು—ಹೇಗೆ ಅವಲಂಬಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ?
Ānarta
Type: kshetra
Listener: vipra (addressed); assembly/king implied by later verses
Scene: A questioning assembly addresses a learned brāhmaṇa: the dead follow their own karma—how can a son’s rites become their ‘support’ (āśraya)?
FAQs
It raises the classic dharma question: if karma determines destiny, in what way can descendant-offered rites benefit the departed—preparing for a Purāṇic reconciliation of karma and ritual merit.
No site is specified; the verse is philosophical groundwork within a tirtha-mahātmya narrative frame.
Śrāddha is implied as a son’s supportive duty toward ancestors; the verse asks how such support is possible given karmic destiny.
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