Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
ततस्तैः पतितो भूमौ दृष्टो मृतकुमारकः । मंत्रयित्वा मिथः पश्चाद्गृहीतो भक्षणाय च
tatastaiḥ patito bhūmau dṛṣṭo mṛtakumārakaḥ | maṃtrayitvā mithaḥ paścādgṛhīto bhakṣaṇāya ca
ततः तैः भूमौ पतितो मृतकुमारको दृष्टः। परस्परं मन्त्रयित्वा पश्चात् तं भक्षणार्थमपि गृहीत्वा निन्युः॥
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; unspecified in snippet)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A group of starving ascetics/wayfarers discover a lifeless boy on the ground; after whispered consultation, they lift the body with grim intent.
FAQs
Hunger can drive even the learned toward adharma; Purāṇas frame such moments to teach repentance, restraint, and the path back to purity.
Not named in this verse; it is part of the moral-plot that later supports the tīrtha’s purifying greatness.
Not here; later verses introduce prāyaścitta (expiation) and corrective conduct.