Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 144
सशल्यं ये प्रकुर्वंति वासरं केशव प्रियम् । तेषां पितामहाः स्वर्गात्प्रेतत्वं यांति पुत्रक
saśalyaṃ ye prakurvaṃti vāsaraṃ keśava priyam | teṣāṃ pitāmahāḥ svargātpretatvaṃ yāṃti putraka
கேசவனுக்குப் பிரியமான அந்த நாளை குறையுடன் அனுசரிப்போரால், அவர்களின் பிதாமகர்கள் சொர்க்கத்திலிருந்தும் வீழ்ந்து பிரேத நிலையை அடைகிறார்கள், மகனே.
Pretāḥ (departed spirits)
Tirtha: Dvārakā
Type: kshetra
Listener: Candraśarman (addressed as ‘putraka’)
Scene: Pretas deliver a stern warning: a tainted Dvādaśī observance causes even grandfathers to fall from heaven into preta-hood; imagery contrasts a luminous svarga scene collapsing into shadowy preta forms, with Keśava’s day symbolized by a bright calendrical disc pierced by a thorn.
FAQs
Improper religious practice can harm not only the practitioner but also the ancestral line, as dharma is intergenerational.
The verse is within Dvārakā Māhātmya; the remedy is later tied to Gomati and Dvārakā.
A warning: do not perform Keśava’s sacred observance-day ‘saśalya’ (with defect/impurity).