Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 98
न हिंसा सदृशं पापं त्रैलोक्ये सचराचरे । हिंसको नरकं गच्छेत्स्वर्गं गच्छेदहिंसकः
na hiṃsā sadṛśaṃ pāpaṃ trailokye sacarācare | hiṃsako narakaṃ gacchetsvargaṃ gacchedahiṃsakaḥ
تینوں لوکوں میں—چلنے والے اور بےحرکت سب جانداروں میں—ہنسا کے برابر کوئی پاپ نہیں۔ ہنسا کرنے والا نرک جاتا ہے؛ اہنسا والا سوَرگ پاتا ہے۔
Skanda (deduced; Kāśī-khaṇḍa often Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis of Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame)
Scene: A dharma-teaching scene in Kāśī: a sage instructs pilgrims on the ghāṭ; on one side, a figure refrains from harming animals and ascends toward light; on the other, a violent figure falls toward a dark abyss—symbolic svarga/naraka imagery.
FAQs
Non-violence (ahiṃsā) is upheld as a supreme dharma; violence leads to grave spiritual downfall.
The verse is situated in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa context, where Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is the overarching sacred geography, though this specific line is a general dharma-teaching.
No specific rite is prescribed; the instruction is ethical—avoid hiṃsā to gain auspicious fruit.