Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 99
पीडनं क्रियते तेषां यत्र तौ युग्मपर्वतौ । या सा वैतरणी घोरा नदी रक्तप्रवाहिनी
pīḍanaṃ kriyate teṣāṃ yatra tau yugmaparvatau | yā sā vaitaraṇī ghorā nadī raktapravāhinī
ആ ഇരട്ടപർവ്വതങ്ങൾ നിലകൊള്ളുന്ന സ്ഥലത്തുതന്നെ അവർക്കു പീഡനം ഏർപ്പെടുന്നു. അതാണ് ഘോരമായ വൈതരണി—രക്തപ്രവാഹംപോലെ ഒഴുകുന്ന നദി.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced from Āvantya Khaṇḍa narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)
Tirtha: Vaitaraṇī (infernal crossing)
Type: river
Scene: A terrifying river flowing like blood, flanked by two looming Twin Mountains; sinners are driven toward it by Yama’s attendants; the air is heavy and red-black.
FAQs
It underscores karmic consequence: beings who fall into wrongdoing encounter fearsome suffering, symbolized by the crushing Twin Mountains and the dreadful Vaitaraṇī.
The verse occurs in the Revā Khaṇḍa (Narmadā/Revā region) and references a fearsome locale associated with the Vaitaraṇī and the Twin Mountains, used to magnify the moral and sacred-geographical teaching of the section.
No direct ritual act (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated in this verse; it functions as a descriptive warning within the māhātmya narrative.