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
“Maka, dengan darah orang itu sendiri dan darah kṣatriya lain yang berhati jahat, akan kupenuhi lubang ini—yang layak bagi persembahan air kepada para leluhur—lalu akan kutarpaṇakan ayahku dengan darah, bukan dengan air.”
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.