Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 50
ब्रह्मचारी गृहस्थो वा वनस्थो यतिरेव वा । महापातकसंघातैर्मुच्यते चोपपातकैः
brahmacārī gṛhastho vā vanastho yatireva vā | mahāpātakasaṃghātairmucyate copapātakaiḥ
பிரம்மச்சாரி, கிருஹஸ்தன், வனவாசி அல்லது யதி—யாராயினும், பெரும் பாபங்களின் குவியலிலிருந்தும் துணைப் பாபங்களிலிருந்தும் விடுபடுவான்.
Deductive attribution: Purāṇic narrator (likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa tradition within Brāhma Khaṇḍa)
Scene: Four figures representing the four āśramas stand in a row—student, householder, forest-dweller, ascetic—each bearing Tripuṇḍra, with a symbolic dark cloud of sins dispersing above them.
FAQs
Śaiva purity-practice is presented as universally effective across all stages of life, dissolving even grave karmic faults.
No site is named; the emphasis is on dharma applicable to all āśramas.
Implied continuation of the preceding rite: bearing Tripuṇḍra/bhasma as a purificatory observance.