Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18
अपत्यविक्रयी कल्पं वसेद्विट्कृमिभोजने । अतो नाण्वपि कन्याया उपजीवेत्पिता धनम्
apatyavikrayī kalpaṃ vasedviṭkṛmibhojane | ato nāṇvapi kanyāyā upajīvetpitā dhanam
جو اپنی اولاد کو بیچتا ہے، وہ ایک کَلپ تک اُس دوزخ میں رہے گا جہاں گندگی اور کیڑے کھائے جاتے ہیں۔ اس لیے باپ کو بیٹی کے سبب حاصل ہونے والے معمولی سے مال پر بھی گزر بسر نہیں کرنی چاہیے۔
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/seekers (context-dependent)
Scene: A stark moral tableau: a greedy father taking coins is contrasted with a vision of a dark hell realm where sinners eat filth and worms; a dharma-figure points the father away from the act.
FAQs
Exploiting one’s child for money is a grave adharma with severe karmic consequence; dharmic livelihood must be free from such gain.
The instruction belongs to Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered dharma narrative, framing household conduct as part of Kāśī’s sacred order.
A strict prohibition: a father must not subsist on wealth obtained ‘from the daughter’—i.e., any bride-price or exploitative gain.