Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2
अथाऽपश्यद्वियत्स्थानात्स त्रीन्प्रेतान्सु दारुणान् । ऊर्ध्वकेशान्सुरक्ताक्षान्कृष्णदन्तान्कृशोदरान्
athā'paśyadviyatsthānātsa trīnpretānsu dāruṇān | ūrdhvakeśānsuraktākṣānkṛṣṇadantānkṛśodarān
अथ व्योमस्थस्थानात् स त्रीन् सुदारुणान् प्रेतान् अपश्यत्—ऊर्ध्वकेशान् सुरक्ताक्षान् कृष्णदन्तान् कृशोदरान्।
Sūta (continuing narration)
Scene: A king looks upward toward a skyborne vantage and beholds three pretas: hair bristling, blood-red eyes, blackened teeth, and hollow bellies—an ominous tableau against a darkened forest horizon.
FAQs
The Māhātmya evokes the reality of post-death states shaped by karma, urging ethical life and purificatory acts connected with sacred places.
Not specified here; the preta-encounter functions as a moral and karmic prelude within the tīrtha narrative.
None explicitly; the verse introduces beings whose condition typically implies the need for śrāddha, dāna, and tīrtha-related rites later in the narrative.