Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 92
यत्ते संदह्यते चेतः शृणु तन्मे युधिष्ठिर । नैकापि नृप लोकेऽस्मिन् भ्रूणहत्या सुदुस्त्यजा
yatte saṃdahyate cetaḥ śṛṇu tanme yudhiṣṭhira | naikāpi nṛpa loke'smin bhrūṇahatyā sudustyajā
جو بات تمہارے دل کو جلاتی ہے، وہ مجھ سے سنو، اے یُدھِشٹھِر۔ اے بادشاہ، اس دنیا میں جنین کشی جیسا ترک کرنا نہایت دشوار گناہ کوئی نہیں۔
Vyāsa (deduced, addressing Yudhiṣṭhira)
Listener: Yudhiṣṭhira
Scene: A concerned king (Yudhiṣṭhira) sits with furrowed brow, heart ‘burning’ with moral anxiety; a sage addresses him calmly, indicating a path of expiation.
FAQs
Moral gravity is acknowledged: some actions deeply wound dharma and conscience, requiring profound purification and sincere repentance.
The verse sits within the Revā Khaṇḍa tīrtha discourse; the surrounding passage connects such sins to purification through the praised tīrtha and Soma-nātha worship.
No specific rite is named here; it introduces a teaching about the severity of bhrūṇahatya as context for later tīrtha-based purification.