Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 54
दुर्भिक्षे चान्नदातॄणां पुंसां भवति यत्फलम् । संन्यासिनां सहस्रैस्तु यत्फलं भोजितैः कलौ । फलं तत्समवाप्नोति कुर्वतां जागरं हरेः
durbhikṣe cānnadātṝṇāṃ puṃsāṃ bhavati yatphalam | saṃnyāsināṃ sahasraistu yatphalaṃ bhojitaiḥ kalau | phalaṃ tatsamavāpnoti kurvatāṃ jāgaraṃ hareḥ
Das Verdienst, das Menschen durch Speisengaben in Zeiten der Hungersnot erlangen, und das Verdienst, das man im Kali-Zeitalter durch die Bewirtung selbst von tausend Entsagern (Sannyāsins) gewinnt—eben diese Früchte erlangen auch jene, die für Hari die Nacht hindurch wachen.
Skanda (deduced from Dvārakā Māhātmya narrative style within Skanda Purāṇa)
Tirtha: Dvārakā
Type: kshetra
Scene: Two juxtaposed vignettes: (1) famine relief—devotees distributing food; (2) a night vigil before Hari—lamps, chanting, and listening. The message: compassion and devotion converge in merit.
FAQs
Devotional wakefulness for Hari (jāgara) is praised as an exceptionally powerful dharmic act, equal to great charities like feeding the hungry in famine and feeding many renunciants in Kali Yuga.
The verse occurs in the Dvārakā Māhātmya (Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa), thereby supporting the sacred stature of Dvārakā as a Vaiṣṇava tīrtha where Hari-centered vows and worship yield immense merit.
The prescription is to perform Hari-jāgara—keeping a devotional night vigil for Hari—presented as a vrata whose fruit equals major acts of dāna such as annadāna in famine and feeding large numbers of saṃnyāsins.