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
पूर्वं सर्वे धर्माः समाहृत्यैकत्र न्यस्ताः, अन्यत्र च ऋतम्। देवैः कौतुकात् तुलायां धृतं, तत्र ऋतं गुरुतरं बभूव॥
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).
Read Skanda Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.