Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 41
कथं शुद्धिर्भवेत्तस्य परमार्थेन मे वद । धर्मशास्त्राणि संवीक्ष्य सर्वाणि च यथाक्रमम्
kathaṃ śuddhirbhavettasya paramārthena me vada | dharmaśāstrāṇi saṃvīkṣya sarvāṇi ca yathākramam
“โปรดบอกข้าพเจ้าตามความจริงสูงสุดว่า ในกรณีเช่นนี้จะบรรลุความบริสุทธิ์ได้อย่างไร—หลังพิจารณาธรรมศาสตราทั้งปวงตามลำดับ”
Sāṃba
Listener: Śaunaka et al. (implied)
Scene: Sāṃba, still in añjali, leans slightly forward in earnest inquiry; the brāhmaṇa holds a palm-leaf manuscript bundle, suggesting ‘examining dharmaśāstras’.
FAQs
True purification is sought through śāstra-based guidance, not self-justification or concealment.
Not specified in this verse; the tīrtha-māhātmya framework surrounds the dialogue.
The instruction is methodological: determine prāyaścitta by consulting Dharmaśāstra authorities systematically.