Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 18
यथा सुपुत्रमासाद्य तरंति पितरो नृप । कुपुत्रेण तथा यांति नरकं नात्र संशयः
yathā suputramāsādya taraṃti pitaro nṛpa | kuputreṇa tathā yāṃti narakaṃ nātra saṃśayaḥ
ഹേ നൃപാ, സത്പുത്രനെ ലഭിച്ചാൽ പിതൃകൾ ഉദ്ധരിക്കപ്പെട്ടു കടന്നുപോകുന്നതുപോലെ, കുപുത്രന്റെ കാരണത്താൽ അവർ നരകത്തിലേക്കു പോകുന്നു—ഇതിൽ സംശയമില്ല.
Narrator (contextual; preceding speaker not explicit in the snippet)
Listener: the King
Scene: Didactic tableau: the queen’s statement evokes two contrasting destinies—ancestors rising with a virtuous son versus falling with an unworthy one—shown symbolically as ascent and descent.
FAQs
A son’s conduct is portrayed as spiritually consequential: virtue supports ancestral uplift, while vice brings ancestral suffering.
This verse is ethical (pitṛ/putra-dharma) rather than naming a specific tīrtha; the Arbuda context later connects merit to pilgrimage and rites.
No specific rite is prescribed in this verse; it states the karmic principle regarding good and bad progeny.