Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 35
पापभागी स विज्ञेय इति सत्यं न संशयः । उत्कोचं यस्तु गृह्णाति पापिनां दुष्टकर्मिणाम् । सकलं च भवेत्तस्य पापं नैवात्र सशयः
pāpabhāgī sa vijñeya iti satyaṃ na saṃśayaḥ | utkocaṃ yastu gṛhṇāti pāpināṃ duṣṭakarmiṇām | sakalaṃ ca bhavettasya pāpaṃ naivātra saśayaḥ
അവൻ പാപത്തിന്റെ പങ്കാളിയെന്നു അറിയണം—ഇത് സത്യം, സംശയമില്ല. പാപികളും ദുഷ്കർമികളും നൽകുന്ന ലഞ്ചം (ഉത്കോചം) ആരെങ്കിലും സ്വീകരിച്ചാൽ, അവരുടെ മുഴുവൻ പാപവും അവന്റെ മേൽ തന്നെ പതിക്കും—ഇതിലും സംശയമില്ല.
Narratorial voice (contextual dharma-instruction; explicit speaker not stated in this verse)
Scene: A solemn dharma-assembly where a judge/official refuses a pouch of coins offered by a grim, sinful petitioner; the rejected bribe appears as dark smoke returning to the giver, while a palm-leaf text of ‘nīti’ is held aloft.
FAQs
Corruption is spiritually ruinous: taking bribes makes one bear the full burden of the wrongdoer’s sin.
No site is praised in this verse; it is a dharma-teaching on justice and moral accountability.
No ritual is prescribed; it delivers a strict ethical prohibition against accepting bribes.