Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 17
ततस्तैः पतितो भूमौ दृष्टो मृतकुमारकः । मंत्रयित्वा मिथः पश्चाद्गृहीतो भक्षणाय च
tatastaiḥ patito bhūmau dṛṣṭo mṛtakumārakaḥ | maṃtrayitvā mithaḥ paścādgṛhīto bhakṣaṇāya ca
پھر انہوں نے زمین پر پڑا ہوا ایک مردہ لڑکا دیکھا؛ آپس میں مشورہ کر کے بعد میں اسے اٹھا لیا—حتیٰ کہ کھانے کے ارادے سے بھی۔
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; unspecified in snippet)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A group of starving ascetics/wayfarers discover a lifeless boy on the ground; after whispered consultation, they lift the body with grim intent.
FAQs
Hunger can drive even the learned toward adharma; Purāṇas frame such moments to teach repentance, restraint, and the path back to purity.
Not named in this verse; it is part of the moral-plot that later supports the tīrtha’s purifying greatness.
Not here; later verses introduce prāyaścitta (expiation) and corrective conduct.