Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4
इदं न देयं दुर्बुद्धेः सुतरां पापनाशनम् । श्रोतव्यं विधिना तद्वद्भविष्योक्तविधानतः
idaṃ na deyaṃ durbuddheḥ sutarāṃ pāpanāśanam | śrotavyaṃ vidhinā tadvadbhaviṣyoktavidhānataḥ
لا ينبغي أن يُعطى هذا التعليم لذي الفهم الخبيث، لأنه بالغُ القدرة على محوِ الذنوب. بل ينبغي أن يُستمع إليه على الوجه الصحيح، وفق القاعدة المقرَّرة كما أُعلنت في التقليد الموثوق.
Īśvara (Śiva) [deduced from section flow]
Tirtha: Prabhāsa/Vastrāpatha māhātmya (as ‘supremely sin-destroying’ teaching)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)
Scene: A sage pauses before teaching, gesturing that the doctrine is not for the malicious; earnest disciples sit purified; a symbolic door/veil separates the unfit from the teaching space.
FAQs
Sacred teachings are powerful and should be transmitted responsibly—heard and shared according to dharmic eligibility and proper procedure.
The immediate context is the Vastrāpatha/Prabhāsa tīrtha-cycle (Gaṅgeśvara māhātmya), though this verse emphasizes transmission rules rather than a single site.
Śravaṇa with vidhi—listening in a prescribed manner—and restraint in teaching (not giving it to the unfit).