Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
ततस्तस्यैव चान्येषां क्षत्रियाणां दुरात्मनाम् । रुधिरैः पूरयित्वेमां गर्तां पितृजलोचिताम् । तर्पयिष्यामि रक्तेन पितरं नाहमंभसा
tatastasyaiva cānyeṣāṃ kṣatriyāṇāṃ durātmanām | rudhiraiḥ pūrayitvemāṃ gartāṃ pitṛjalocitām | tarpayiṣyāmi raktena pitaraṃ nāhamaṃbhasā
അതുകൊണ്ട്, അവന്റെയും മറ്റു ദുഷ്ടക്ഷത്രിയന്മാരുടെയും രക്തംകൊണ്ട് പിതൃതർപ്പണജലത്തിന് യോജ്യമായ ഈ കുഴി നിറച്ച്, ഞാൻ ജലത്താൽ അല്ല—രക്തത്താൽ പിതാവിനെ തൃപ്തിപ്പെടുത്തും।
Rāma (Jamadagnija/Paraśurāma)
Type: kund
Listener: Ascetics/brāhmaṇas present in the story-world; broader purāṇic audience
Scene: A grim ritual inversion: a pit/cleft designated for ancestral offerings is being filled with blood; the vow-taker stands fierce, while sages recoil in silent horror; the pit is central, symbolically marked as ‘pitṛ-jala-ucitā’.
FAQs
It dramatizes the tension between ritual norms (water tarpaṇa) and a fierce vow born of perceived injustice—showing how Purāṇic narratives explore dharma under extreme emotion.
The verse references a “pit” suited for pitṛ-water rites, within a Tīrthamāhātmya chapter; the specific named tīrtha is not given in this line.
Tarpaṇa is referenced explicitly (pitṛ-jala-ucita gartā), but the speaker vows an abnormal substitution—blood instead of water—highlighting the narrative’s severity.