Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 47
न मया विहितं चौर्यं परदारा न सेविताः । पश्यध्वं मणिभद्रेण यथाहं क्लेशितो जनाः
na mayā vihitaṃ cauryaṃ paradārā na sevitāḥ | paśyadhvaṃ maṇibhadreṇa yathāhaṃ kleśito janāḥ
‘میں نے کبھی چوری نہیں کی، نہ میں نے کسی کی بیوی سے تعلق رکھا۔ دیکھو اے لوگو—مَنی بھدر نے مجھے کس طرح عذاب میں مبتلا کیا ہے!’
Puṣpa (the brāhmaṇa, speaking to the people; inferred from immediate narrative context)
Scene: The revived brāhmaṇa, still wet and weak, raises a hand in testimony, declaring innocence and pointing to the unseen agency of Maṇibhadra as the cause of his torment; listeners react with shock and concern.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma emphasizes truthfulness and moral purity; wrongful persecution of the innocent becomes a cause for karmic consequence.
The episode belongs to the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya stream (Puṣpāditya Māhātmya) inside Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
No direct rite is prescribed here; the verse functions as a dharmic testimony of innocence.