Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 46
मातोवाच । यदि पुत्र त्वया कार्यं प्रायश्चित्तं विशुद्धये । तदहं पतिना सार्धं प्रवेक्ष्यामि पुरोऽनलम्
mātovāca | yadi putra tvayā kāryaṃ prāyaścittaṃ viśuddhaye | tadahaṃ patinā sārdhaṃ pravekṣyāmi puro'nalam
ماں نے کہا: 'اے میرے بیٹے، اگر تمہیں پاکیزگی کے لیے کفارہ ادا کرنا ہے، تو میں تمہارے والد کے ساتھ تم سے پہلے دہکتی ہوئی آگ میں داخل ہو جاؤں گی۔'
Mother (mātā)
Type: kund
Scene: The mother, grief-stricken yet resolute, declares she and her husband will enter the fire before the son; the son stands stunned, the father silent.
FAQs
True purification (viśuddhi) must align with dharma and compassion; rash expiation is questioned by familial responsibility.
The immediate episode belongs to the Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya and soon leads to Vāstupada, a sanctified place associated with a resolving sage.
Prāyaścitta (atonement) is referenced, specifically a fire-based act, though the verse frames it as a contested resolve rather than a recommended norm.