Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 31
एकः पापानि कुरुते फलं भुंक्ते महाजनः । भोक्तारो विप्रमुच्यंते कर्ता दोषेण लिप्यते
ekaḥ pāpāni kurute phalaṃ bhuṃkte mahājanaḥ | bhoktāro vipramucyaṃte kartā doṣeṇa lipyate
പാപം ചെയ്യുന്നത് ഒരാളാണ്, ഫലം ‘മഹാജനം’ ഭോഗിക്കുന്നു; ഭോഗിക്കുന്നവർ വിടുതൽ നേടുന്നു, കർത്താവ് മാത്രം ദോഷത്തിൽ ലിപ്തനാകുന്നു.
An ascetic/renunciate narrator within the Tīrthamāhātmya dialogue (speaker not explicitly named in the provided snippet)
Scene: A single figure performs a wrongful act in the foreground while a crowd feasts behind him; the crowd’s faces are carefree, but the doer is marked by a dark stain or shadow clinging to his body—symbolizing karmic adhesion.
FAQs
Karma adheres to the agent: responsibility cannot be outsourced even when benefits are shared.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is general karmic instruction within the Mahātmya.
None; it is a principle of moral accountability.