Shloka 323
कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī
कथमसम्मिंश्व तीर्थे वै आप्लुत्याकल्मषो5भवत् | जनमेजयने पूछा--ब्रह्मन! भगवान् इन्द्रको ब्रह्महत्याका पाप कैसे लगा तथा वे किस प्रकार इस तीर्थमें स्नान करके पापमुक्त हुए थे?
janamejaya uvāca | katham asmin tīrthe vai āplutya akalmaṣo 'bhavat |
जनमेजय उवाच—कथं स तस्मिंस्तीर्थे वै आप्लुत्य कल्मषोऽभवत्? ब्रह्मन्, कथं भगवाञ्शक्रो ब्रह्महत्यापापमवाप्तवान्, कथं चास्मिंस्तीर्थे स्नात्वा पापात् प्रमुक्तोऽभवत्?
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the mightiest can incur grave moral taint through wrongful acts; purification requires acknowledgement of fault and recourse to dharmic means of expiation—here symbolized by the sanctifying power of a tīrtha and the discipline of ritual atonement.
King Janamejaya asks the narrating Brāhmaṇa-sage to explain a specific tradition: how Indra came to bear the guilt of brahmahatyā and how, by bathing at a particular sacred tīrtha, he became free from that impurity.