Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 23
सुशीघ्रमभिधावन्तं निजं कर्मानुधावति । शेते सह शयानेन तिष्ठन्तमनुतिष्ठति
suśīghramabhidhāvantaṃ nijaṃ karmānudhāvati | śete saha śayānena tiṣṭhantamanutiṣṭhati
آدمی کا اپنا کرم بڑی تیزی سے اس کے پیچھے پیچھے دوڑتا ہے۔ وہ لیٹتا ہے تو کرم بھی اس کے ساتھ لیٹتا ہے؛ وہ کھڑا ہوتا ہے تو کرم بھی اس کے پہلو میں کھڑا رہتا ہے۔
Unspecified (deduced: Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa narrating within a Māhātmya discourse)
Scene: A traveler runs along a road to a holy place; behind him, a swift, personified ‘Karma’ figure mirrors his movement. In vignettes, when he lies down, Karma lies beside him; when he stands, Karma stands.
FAQs
Karma is inseparable from the doer; it accompanies a person in every condition and cannot be outrun.
The teaching occurs within the Śrīhāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa (Tīrthamāhātmya section).
No direct ritual is prescribed here; the verse is a moral-philosophical statement about karma’s constant companionship.