Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 85
तावत्तपोभिवृद्धिस्तु तावद्दानं दया दमः । तावत्स्वाध्यायवृत्तं च तावच्छौचं धृतं व्रतम्
tāvattapobhivṛddhistu tāvaddānaṃ dayā damaḥ | tāvatsvādhyāyavṛttaṃ ca tāvacchaucaṃ dhṛtaṃ vratam
إنما إلى ذلك الحدّ تنمو الزهادات حقًّا؛ وإلى ذلك الحدّ تدوم الصدقةُ والرحمةُ وضبطُ النفس؛ وإلى ذلك الحدّ يبقى التلاوةُ المقدّسةُ والسلوكُ القويم؛ وإلى ذلك الحدّ تستمرّ الطهارةُ والنذورُ الممسوكةُ بأمانة.
Vyāsa (continuation; summarizing dharmic disciplines)
Listener: Nṛpa-sattama / royal interlocutor
Scene: A calm didactic tableau: a teacher enumerates virtues as luminous emblems—rosary for svādhyāya/japa, water pot for śauca, cow/hand of giving for dāna, steady flame for tapas, lotus for dayā—each shown as sustained by a ‘thread’ of vigilance.
FAQs
Dharmic virtues—tapas, charity, compassion, restraint, study, purity, and vows—remain effective only while they are sincerely maintained without inner collapse.
The verse is virtue-focused rather than site-specific; within Dharmāraṇya Māhātmya it teaches the conduct that makes pilgrimage and sacred living fruitful.
It highlights foundational sādhana: dāna (charity), dama (restraint), svādhyāya (study), śauca (purity), and vrata (vowed observance), without naming a single specific rite.