Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 39
इति तद्वाक्यमाकर्ण्य ताराक्षस्तत्पितृव्यकः । धनलोभेन पिंगाक्षे पापं पापो व्यचिंतयत्
iti tadvākyamākarṇya tārākṣastatpitṛvyakaḥ | dhanalobhena piṃgākṣe pāpaṃ pāpo vyaciṃtayat
ان الفاظ کو سن کر، اس کے چچا تارکش نے، دولت کی ہوس میں مبتلا ہو کر، اے پنگکش، اس گنہگار نے ایک گناہ کا منصوبہ بنایا۔
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Listener: Śaunaka and other ṛṣis (Naimiṣāraṇya frame, typical)
Scene: A shadowed interior court in Kāśī: Tārākṣa listens, eyes narrowed with greed; behind him, chests of wealth and a dim oil-lamp; the victim and mendicants implied in the background as moral contrast.
FAQs
Greed (dhana-lobha) clouds discernment and becomes the seed of pāpa, leading one toward destructive choices.
The verse sits within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa framework (Kāśī/Varanasi), though this specific line focuses on character and karma rather than naming a tirtha.
None explicitly; the shloka is narrative and ethical, describing the arising of sinful intent.