Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 7
किं पाप न समायातः पशुरेकोऽद्य नो यथा । नूनं त्वया हतः सोऽपि विक्रीतोऽपिहितोऽथवा । तस्मा दानय मे क्षिप्रं निराहारोऽपि गां त्वरात्
kiṃ pāpa na samāyātaḥ paśureko'dya no yathā | nūnaṃ tvayā hataḥ so'pi vikrīto'pihito'thavā | tasmā dānaya me kṣipraṃ nirāhāro'pi gāṃ tvarāt
โอ้คนบาป! เหตุใดวันนี้สัตว์ของเราสักตัวก็ไม่กลับมา? แน่แท้เจ้าคงฆ่ามัน หรือขายมัน หรือซ่อนไว้ ดังนั้นจงรีบถวายโคแก่เราทันที—จะอดอาหารหรือไม่ก็เถิด เร่งเถิด!
Owner of the cow (cow’s master) addressing the cowherd
Tirtha: Cāmatkārapura (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvija-sattama (addressed later in the passage)
Scene: A harsh master confronts a humble, mute cowherd, accusing him of killing/selling/hiding a missing animal and demanding an immediate cow as compensation; the cowherd stands anxious, hands lowered, the household tense.
FAQs
Speech driven by anger leads to harsh judgment; Purāṇic stories show how suffering and accusation can become the doorway to dharma and tīrtha-grace.
Not specified in this verse; it is part of the lead-up to a tīrtha-centered outcome.
A demand for restitution as a form of dāna/compensation (a cow) is stated, though not as a devotional rite.