Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21
यत्पापं ब्रह्महत्यायां मातापित्रोश्च वंचने । तेन पापेन लिप्येहं नागच्छामि पुनर्यदि
yatpāpaṃ brahmahatyāyāṃ mātāpitrośca vaṃcane | tena pāpena lipyehaṃ nāgacchāmi punaryadi
ബ്രഹ്മഹത്യയിലെ പാപവും, മാതാപിതാക്കളെ വഞ്ചിക്കുന്നതിലെ പാപവും—ഞാൻ വീണ്ടും വരാതിരുന്നാൽ ആ പാപം കൊണ്ടുതന്നെ ഞാൻ ഇവിടെ മലിനയാകട്ടെ।
Nandinī
Listener: Vyāghra (tiger)
Scene: Nandinī pronounces a self-imprecatory oath, invoking the stain of brahmin-slaying and parental deception if she fails to return; the tiger listens, the air heavy with moral consequence.
FAQs
A vow is made sacred by staking one’s moral accountability; truthfulness is treated as a pillar of dharma.
The broader passage belongs to a tīrtha-māhātmya context, but this verse focuses on oath-taking rather than naming a site.
No rite is prescribed; the verse uses a śapatha (self-imprecatory oath) as a moral guarantee.