Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 37
अहमासं पुरा पापो लुब्धकश्चान्य जन्मनि । निहंता सर्वजंतूनां तथा भक्षयिता पुनः
ahamāsaṃ purā pāpo lubdhakaścānya janmani | nihaṃtā sarvajaṃtūnāṃ tathā bhakṣayitā punaḥ
முன்னொரு காலத்தில், வேறொரு பிறவியில், நான் பாவமிகு லுப்தகன் (வேட்டைக்காரன்) ஆனேன்—எல்லா வகை உயிர்களையும் கொல்லுபவனாகவும், மீண்டும் அவற்றை உண்ணுபவனாகவும் இருந்தேன்।
The king (confessing his past birth)
Scene: A remorseful former hunter recalls his past: weapons, slain creatures, and the shadow of sin behind him, contrasted with a distant glow suggesting an approaching āśrama/tīrtha.
FAQs
Violence toward living beings creates grave karmic burden; recognizing past wrongdoing is the first step toward purification.
This verse does not name a tīrtha; it provides the karmic backstory that the tīrtha-māhātmya will typically resolve through purification.
None explicitly here; the verse establishes a karmic cause that will justify or motivate subsequent rites of expiation and śrāddha.
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.