Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 96
भुक्त्वा पुण्यफलं याति नरकं संशयः । अस्मिंश्च संशये प्रोक्तं मार्कंडेयेन श्रूयते
bhuktvā puṇyaphalaṃ yāti narakaṃ saṃśayaḥ | asmiṃśca saṃśaye proktaṃ mārkaṃḍeyena śrūyate
पुण्यफलं भुक्त्वा नरकं याति—इति संशयः। अस्मिन्नेव संशये मार्कण्डेयेन यत् प्रोक्तं तद् श्रूयते।
Bāla (introducing Mārkaṇḍeya’s teaching/tradition)
Scene: A questioner raises a doubt before a venerable sage; behind them, a symbolic vision shows a soul ascending to a bright realm and then descending toward a dark pit as merit is exhausted.
FAQs
Karmic accounting is subtle: enjoyment of puṇya does not automatically cancel pāpa; the tradition addresses this sequencing.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse points to Mārkaṇḍeya’s doctrinal explanation.
None; it introduces a doctrinal discussion grounded in ṛṣi testimony.