Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 11
राजोवाच उपकारं समासाद्य यः करोति न पापकृत् । उपकारं पुनस्तस्य स कृतघ्न उदाहृतः
rājovāca upakāraṃ samāsādya yaḥ karoti na pāpakṛt | upakāraṃ punastasya sa kṛtaghna udāhṛtaḥ
بادشاہ نے کہا: جو شخص احسان پا کر بھی گناہ نہ کرے (یعنی بدی سے بدلہ نہ دے) وہ گناہگار نہیں۔ مگر جو اسی احسان کے بدلے احسان نہ کرے، وہ ‘کرتگھن’ یعنی ناشکرا کہلاتا ہے۔
Rājā (the King)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame; not explicit here)
Scene: A king, hands in a teaching gesture, explains the ethics of repaying kindness to ascetic brāhmaṇas; the courtly aura is restrained, emphasizing moral instruction over power.
FAQs
Gratitude is dharma: receiving help should lead to benevolent reciprocity; failing to repay kindness is a serious ethical fault.
This verse primarily teaches dharma (gratitude) within the Tīrthamāhātmya context; the specific tīrtha is not named in this shloka.
No explicit ritual (snāna, japa, dāna) is prescribed here; it is an ethical definition concerning kṛtaghnatā (ingratitude).