Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 8
स्त्रीहत्यया समायुक्तस्त्वं च नूनं भविष्यसि । प्रमाणं यदि धर्मोऽत्र स्मृतिशास्त्रसमुद्भवः
strīhatyayā samāyuktastvaṃ ca nūnaṃ bhaviṣyasi | pramāṇaṃ yadi dharmo'tra smṛtiśāstrasamudbhavaḥ
“ท่านเองก็จักต้องมัวหมองด้วยบาปแห่งการฆ่าสตรีเป็นแน่—หากในเรื่องนี้ ธรรมะจะถูกชั่งตวงด้วยอำนาจอ้างอิงจากคัมภีร์สมฤติศาสตร์”
Kāśirāja’s daughter (Amba, implied)
Listener: Audience (implicit)
Scene: Amba’s accusation shifts into a pointed legal-ethical challenge: she invokes Smṛti as a measuring rod, while Bhīṣma stands conflicted, the firelight casting stark shadows like a courtroom of dharma.
FAQs
Dharma is not merely sentiment; it is weighed against recognized ethical standards, and grave harm accrues grave sin.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it frames the dharma-issue that later turns toward tīrtha-based purification.
None here; the verse establishes the charge of strī-hatyā that motivates later expiatory instruction.