Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 96
भुक्त्वा पुण्यफलं याति नरकं संशयः । अस्मिंश्च संशये प्रोक्तं मार्कंडेयेन श्रूयते
bhuktvā puṇyaphalaṃ yāti narakaṃ saṃśayaḥ | asmiṃśca saṃśaye proktaṃ mārkaṃḍeyena śrūyate
نیکی کے پھل کو بھوگ کر کے وہ دوزخ کو جاتا ہے—یہی شبہ ہے۔ اور اسی شبہ کے بارے میں جو مارکنڈےیہ نے فرمایا، وہ معتبر تعلیم کے طور پر سنا جاتا ہے۔
Bāla (introducing Mārkaṇḍeya’s teaching/tradition)
Scene: A questioner raises a doubt before a venerable sage; behind them, a symbolic vision shows a soul ascending to a bright realm and then descending toward a dark pit as merit is exhausted.
FAQs
Karmic accounting is subtle: enjoyment of puṇya does not automatically cancel pāpa; the tradition addresses this sequencing.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse points to Mārkaṇḍeya’s doctrinal explanation.
None; it introduces a doctrinal discussion grounded in ṛṣi testimony.