Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38
शूद्रान्नेनोदरस्थेन ब्राह्मणो म्रियते यदि । स प्रेतो जायते राजन्यद्यपि स्यात्षडंगवित्
śūdrānnenodarasthena brāhmaṇo mriyate yadi | sa preto jāyate rājanyadyapi syātṣaḍaṃgavit
ഹേ രാജാവേ, ശൂദ്രനിൽ നിന്നു ലഭിച്ച അന്നം ഉദരത്തിൽ നിലനിൽക്കുമ്പോൾ ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ മരിച്ചാൽ, അവൻ പ്രേതനായി ജനിക്കുന്നു—അവൻ ഷഡംഗവേദവിദ്യാവാനായാലും പോലും.
Unspecified in snippet (likely the respondent/teacher addressing the King)
Listener: rājan (king)
Scene: A brāhmaṇa scholar with manuscripts lies at the point of death; a bowl of food nearby symbolizes transgressive intake; a preta-shadow rises from the body while a king listens in concern.
FAQs
Scriptural learning alone is not presented as sufficient; adherence to prescribed purity disciplines is also emphasized as karmically decisive.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse.
An implied rule of anna-śuddhi (purity of food) and carefulness about what one consumes, especially at life’s end.