Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 44
यदि पृच्छन्ति ते बालान् क्व गतान् कथयाम्यहम् । एवं स्थिते महाभाग यदि कश्चिन्मरिष्यति
yadi pṛcchanti te bālān kva gatān kathayāmyaham | evaṃ sthite mahābhāga yadi kaścinmariṣyati
“اگر وہ بچوں کے بارے میں پوچھیں—‘وہ کہاں گئے؟’—تو میں کیا کہوں؟ ایسی حالت میں، اے نہایت بخت ور، اگر کوئی مر جائے تو…”
Baṭu (continuing speech)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā)
Type: river
Listener: Nṛpa (king)
Scene: The boy imagines the parents’ questions and the possibility of death; the scene shows him speaking anxiously to the guru while the river flows ominously behind, suggesting impending consequence.
FAQs
One must foresee the moral and social consequences of actions; dharma demands responsibility.
The narrative context is the Revā (Narmadā) region, culminating in a named Śiva-tīrtha later in the passage.
No ritual instruction appears in this verse.