Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
यः स्त्रीं भजति पापात्मा वृथा पाशुपतव्रती । सोऽतीतान्दश चाधाय पुरुषान्नरके पचेत्
yaḥ strīṃ bhajati pāpātmā vṛthā pāśupatavratī | so'tītāndaśa cādhāya puruṣānnarake pacet
Kẻ đàn ông tội lỗi ấy—dẫu tự xưng giữ giới nguyện Pāśupata—mà giả dối vô ích đi lại với đàn bà; sau khi lôi kéo mười người khác sa đọa, hắn bị nấu trong địa ngục.
Tāpasa (ascetic)
Type: kshetra
Listener: (Contextual) Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages
Scene: A severe ascetic branded as Pāśupata is shown as hypocritical; shadowy figures (the ‘ten others’) are dragged toward a blazing naraka cauldron—an allegory of moral contagion and karmic consequence.
FAQs
Hypocrisy in religious vows is treated as especially destructive: it harms both the practitioner and others, bringing severe karmic consequences.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the teaching appears within the broader Tīrthamāhātmya narrative frame.
The implied prescription is strict: a Pāśupata vratī must not violate brahmacarya; otherwise the act becomes ‘vṛthā’ (vain) and incurs grave karmaphala.