Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40
स्नानं दानं जपो होमः स्वाध्यायो देवतार्चनम् । पुण्यं देयं तु सर्वत्र नापुण्यं दीयते क्वचित्
snānaṃ dānaṃ japo homaḥ svādhyāyo devatārcanam | puṇyaṃ deyaṃ tu sarvatra nāpuṇyaṃ dīyate kvacit
الاغتسالُ الطقسيّ، والصدقةُ، وتلاوةُ المانترا، وقربانُ النار (هوما)، وتلاوةُ الفيدا ودراستُها، وعبادةُ الإله—كلُّ ذلك يُقدَّم أعمالًا ذاتَ ثوابٍ في كلِّ مكان؛ ولا ينبغي أبدًا أن يُقدَّم ما لا ثوابَ فيه في أيِّ موضع.
Skanda (as narrator of Prabhāsa-māhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A symbolic tableau of six practices: a pilgrim bathing, giving alms, chanting japa with mālā, offering homa into fire, studying a Vedic text, and performing deity-archana—framed as universally valid acts; a shadowy ‘apuṇya’ figure is excluded outside the scene.
FAQs
Dharma is universal: cultivate meritorious disciplines everywhere and avoid sinful actions without exception.
Though stated universally, it appears within the Prabhāsa Kṣetra māhātmya as guidance for pilgrims.
Core practices: snāna, dāna, japa, homa, svādhyāya, and devatā-arcana; and a prohibition against apuṇya.