Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 15
अपरं भूभुजादेशान्मणिभद्रो निपातितः । वधकैस्तस्य तत्पापं यदि पापं प्रजायते
aparaṃ bhūbhujādeśānmaṇibhadro nipātitaḥ | vadhakaistasya tatpāpaṃ yadi pāpaṃ prajāyate
اور مزید یہ کہ بادشاہ کے حکم سے منی بھدر کو جلادوں نے قتل کیا۔ اگر اس فعل سے کوئی گناہ پیدا ہو تو وہ گناہ (حقیقت میں) اسی پر آتا ہے جس نے وہ ظالمانہ حکم دیا تھا۔
Narrative context (Attribution uncertain in snippet; within Tīrthamāhātmya discourse, likely Sūta narrating or a character recounting a case of royal injustice)
Scene: A somber court scene: Maṇibhadra is led by executioners; the king’s command is shown as the causal source of impending pāpa; sages or brāhmaṇas observe with grave disapproval, emphasizing dharma over power.
FAQs
Authority does not erase moral responsibility; unjust orders generate sin that returns to the true agent behind the act.
This verse is part of a Tīrthamāhātmya setting, but the specific tīrtha is not named in this single shloka excerpt.
None directly; the verse frames karmic accountability that later motivates expiatory practice.