Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 47
गतिरूर्ध्वा च धर्मेण ह्यधर्मेण त्वधोगतिः । जायते सर्ववर्णानां स्वधर्मचलनान्नृप
gatirūrdhvā ca dharmeṇa hyadharmeṇa tvadhogatiḥ | jāyate sarvavarṇānāṃ svadharmacalanānnṛpa
دھرم سے گتی اوپر کی طرف ہوتی ہے، اور ادھرم سے گتی نیچے کی طرف۔ اے راجا، سبھی ورنوں کی یہ حالت اپنے سْوَدھرم سے ہٹنے کے سبب پیدا ہوتی ہے۔
Unspecified (teacher voice addressing a king, 'nṛpa')
Listener: A king (nṛpa)
Scene: A king receiving counsel from a sage: two paths depicted—an ascending luminous path marked ‘dharma’ and a descending shadowed path marked ‘adharma’; figures of different varṇas shown choosing paths.
FAQs
Karmic ascent or fall is determined by adherence to dharma; abandoning svadharma becomes a cause of spiritual decline.
Not directly; it supports the chapter’s later praise of Narakeśvara Tīrtha on the Narmadā as a means of uplift.
No specific rite is stated; the prescription is ethical—steadfastness in svadharma.