अष्टादशपुराणेषु व्यासस्य वचनद्वयम् ।
परोपकारः पुण्याय पापाय परपीडनम् ॥
aṣṭādaśa-purāṇeṣu vyāsasya vacana-dvayam |
paropakāraḥ puṇyāya pāpāya para-pīḍanam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 3587)
“Throughout the eighteen Purāṇas, Vyāsa has [just] two [fundamental] statements: benefiting others leads to merit (puṇya) and troubling others leads to sin (pāpa).”