Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 30
पृथिवी ते पात्रमादाय वैष्ण व्या च ऋचा तथा । स्वहस्तेन न वै दद्यात्प्रत्यक्षं लवणं तथा
pṛthivī te pātramādāya vaiṣṇa vyā ca ṛcā tathā | svahastena na vai dadyātpratyakṣaṃ lavaṇaṃ tathā
Indem man die Erde selbst als Opfergefäß nimmt und die heilige Vaiṣṇavī-ṛc rezitiert, soll man im śrāddha-Ritus Salz nicht unmittelbar mit der eigenen Hand überreichen.
Unspecified in snippet (Nāgarakhaṇḍa narrative voice addressing a king: likely a Purāṇic teacher speaking to the ruler)
Listener: nṛpa (king)
Scene: A clean earthen patch prepared with kuśa; offerings arranged on the ground; the performer recites a Vedic ṛc; salt is kept aside and not handed directly, emphasizing ritual restraint.
FAQs
Śrāddha must be performed with precise ritual restraint; even small items like salt have prescribed modes of offering to preserve the rite’s sanctity.
The verse sits within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya framework, but this particular line focuses on śrāddha procedure rather than naming a specific tīrtha.
Do not give salt directly hand-to-hand during śrāddha; perform the act with the earth as the receptacle while reciting the Vaiṣṇavī ṛc.