Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 39
स तेषु रुधिराम्भस्तु ह्रदेषु क्रोधमूर्छितः । पितॄन् संतर्पयामास रुधिरेणेति नः श्रुतम्
sa teṣu rudhirāmbhastu hradeṣu krodhamūrchitaḥ | pitṝn saṃtarpayāmāsa rudhireṇeti naḥ śrutam
ആ രക്തജലപൂർണ്ണമായ ഹ്രദങ്ങളിൽ അവൻ—ഇനിയും ക്രോധമൂർഛിതനായി—രക്തംകൊണ്ട് പിതൃകളെ തർപ്പണം ചെയ്ത് തൃപ്തിപ്പെടുത്തി; ഇങ്ങനെ ഞങ്ങൾ കേട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു।
Purāṇic narrator
Tirtha: Samantapañcaka (Rudhirahrada tradition)
Type: kund
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (contextual)
Scene: Paraśurāma stands at the edge of blood-filled lakes, offering tarpaṇa to the Pitṛs—an unsettling juxtaposition of sacred rite and horrific substance, with unseen ancestors receiving the offering.
FAQs
It juxtaposes ancestral duty (pitṛ-kārya) with the peril of anger, portraying how even dharma-acts can be colored by one’s inner state.
The rudhira-hradas at Samantapañcaka are central, forming a famous tīrtha-memory within Purāṇic sacred geography.
Pitṛ-tarpaṇa (offering of libations to ancestors) is described as being performed at the lakes.