Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 62
यदि त्वं न पिबेः स्तन्यं पयो बालो मरिष्यति । श्रूयते त्रिषु लोकेषु वेदेषु च स्मृतिष्वपि । मुच्यते सर्वपापेभ्यो भ्रूणहत्या न मुञ्चति
yadi tvaṃ na pibeḥ stanyaṃ payo bālo mariṣyati | śrūyate triṣu lokeṣu vedeṣu ca smṛtiṣvapi | mucyate sarvapāpebhyo bhrūṇahatyā na muñcati
तू जर स्तन्यदूध पिणार नाहीस तर बाळ मरेल. तीनही लोकांत—वेदांत व स्मृत्यांतही—असे ऐकिवात आहे की सर्व पापांतून मुक्ती मिळू शकते; पण भ्रूणहत्येचे पाप सहज सुटत नाही।
The woman (nārī) speaking
Listener: First-person male speaker (earlier verse)
Scene: The mother, distressed, points to the weakening child and cites scriptural authority; the man listens, torn between propriety and the imperative to save life; the atmosphere is heavy with moral urgency.
FAQs
Protecting vulnerable life is paramount; certain harms—especially against unborn/infant life—are treated as exceptionally grave in dharma literature.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse is a dharma-argument within the Revā Khaṇḍa narrative.
No positive rite is prescribed; the verse discusses the doctrine of sin and the difficulty of expiating bhrūṇahatya.