Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14
न तिला धान्यमित्याहुर्देवधान्यमिति स्मृतम् । तस्मात्सर्वेषु दानेषु तिल दानं महोत्तमम्
na tilā dhānyamityāhurdevadhānyamiti smṛtam | tasmātsarveṣu dāneṣu tila dānaṃ mahottamam
Man sagt, Sesam sei nicht bloß „Getreide“; er gilt als „Getreide der Götter“. Darum ist unter allen Gaben die Gabe von Sesam die erhabenste.
Unspecified (Tīrthamāhātmya narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa; likely a Purāṇic narrator addressing a listener)
Scene: A pilgrim at a tīrtha offers a small heap of sesame into a priest’s hands beside a riverbank altar; a subtle divine aura suggests ‘devadhānya’.
FAQs
Charity becomes spiritually weighty when it aligns with sacred tradition; sesame is singled out as a divinely valued gift.
A particular tīrtha is not named; the verse gives a general dharma-teaching within a tīrtha-mahātmya setting.
Perform tila-dāna (donation of sesame), presented as the highest among gifts.