Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 7
किं पाप न समायातः पशुरेकोऽद्य नो यथा । नूनं त्वया हतः सोऽपि विक्रीतोऽपिहितोऽथवा । तस्मा दानय मे क्षिप्रं निराहारोऽपि गां त्वरात्
kiṃ pāpa na samāyātaḥ paśureko'dya no yathā | nūnaṃ tvayā hataḥ so'pi vikrīto'pihito'thavā | tasmā dānaya me kṣipraṃ nirāhāro'pi gāṃ tvarāt
اے گنہگار! آج میرا ایک بھی جانور کیوں واپس نہیں آیا؟ یقیناً تو نے اسے مار ڈالا، یا بیچ دیا، یا چھپا دیا۔ اس لیے فوراً مجھے ایک گائے دان کر—روزہ ہو یا نہ ہو، جلدی کر!
Owner of the cow (cow’s master) addressing the cowherd
Tirtha: Cāmatkārapura (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvija-sattama (addressed later in the passage)
Scene: A harsh master confronts a humble, mute cowherd, accusing him of killing/selling/hiding a missing animal and demanding an immediate cow as compensation; the cowherd stands anxious, hands lowered, the household tense.
FAQs
Speech driven by anger leads to harsh judgment; Purāṇic stories show how suffering and accusation can become the doorway to dharma and tīrtha-grace.
Not specified in this verse; it is part of the lead-up to a tīrtha-centered outcome.
A demand for restitution as a form of dāna/compensation (a cow) is stated, though not as a devotional rite.