Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18
अविभज्य न चाश्नीयाद्देवपित्रतिथिष्वपि । परिचारकवर्गेषु गोषु भिक्षुकुलेषु च
avibhajya na cāśnīyāddevapitratithiṣvapi | paricārakavargeṣu goṣu bhikṣukuleṣu ca
لا تأكلْ حتى تُقسِّم الطعام وتُوزِّعه أولاً—حتى للآلهة وللأسلاف وللضيوف؛ وكذلك بين الخَدَم والأتباع، وبين الأبقار، ولأسر المتسوّلين الزهّاد.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A meal distribution tableau: offerings placed at a small shrine, a guest seated respectfully, servants and children receiving portions, a cow being fed, and a mendicant family at the gate receiving alms—household as a hub of dharma.
FAQs
Food is a trust—one should nourish others first (gods, ancestors, guests, dependents), embodying generosity and duty.
The teaching belongs to Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s sacred-living framework; it reinforces Kāśī’s reputation as a city of dharma and hospitality.
Distribution prior to eating: offerings/allocations connected with deva and pitṛ duties, and feeding atithis, cows, servants, and mendicants.