Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 22
सर्वे धर्मा धृताः पूर्वमेकत्राऽन्यत्र चाप्यृतम् । तुलायां कौतुकाद्देवैर्जातं तत्र ऋतं गुरु
sarve dharmā dhṛtāḥ pūrvamekatrā'nyatra cāpyṛtam | tulāyāṃ kautukāddevairjātaṃ tatra ṛtaṃ guru
Antigamente, todos os dharmas foram reunidos de um lado, e noutro colocou-se também o ṛta. Por curiosidade, os deuses puseram-nos numa balança, e ali o ṛta mostrou-se mais pesado, mais preeminente.
Kṛtaghna (the preta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Gods assemble around a giant balance scale; on one pan lie many scrolls labeled ‘dharma’, on the other a single radiant tablet labeled ‘ṛta/satya’ that sinks the scale, astonishing the devas.
FAQs
Ṛta/satya is portrayed as the heaviest—most authoritative—principle, surpassing other dharmic observances.
No specific tīrtha is named; it provides a universal ethical foundation for the forthcoming tīrtha instruction.
None; it uses a mythic ‘weighing’ metaphor to establish the supremacy of ṛta (truth).