Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 29
गौतम उवाच । प्रेतयोनौ प्रवृत्तानां केन नामानि कृत्स्नशः । युष्माकं निर्मितान्येवमेतन्मे कौतुकं महत्
gautama uvāca | pretayonau pravṛttānāṃ kena nāmāni kṛtsnaśaḥ | yuṣmākaṃ nirmitānyevametanme kautukaṃ mahat
Gautama disse: “Para aqueles que entraram na condição de preta, por quem são atribuídos, por completo, todos esses nomes? Que tenham sido moldados assim para vós—isso me desperta grande curiosidade.”
Gautama Ṛṣi
Tirtha: Prabhāsa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka et al. (frame) / immediate: Gautama as questioner, pretas as respondents
Scene: Sage Gautama, calm and radiant, addresses a cluster of pretas; his hand raised in inquiry (praśna-mudrā). The pretas appear restless; the coastal sacred landscape frames the scene.
FAQs
The verse prompts inquiry into moral causality: conditions after death are not random but governed by discernible principles.
Prabhāsakṣetra, the dharmic landscape where sages interrogate subtle truths and receive instructive answers.
None explicitly; the question sets up later guidance about charity, conduct, and purity.