Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22
आहुर्जनानामार्त्तानां सुखं यदुपजायते । तस्य स्वर्गोऽपवर्गो वा कलां नार्हति षोडशीम्
āhurjanānāmārttānāṃ sukhaṃ yadupajāyate | tasya svargo'pavargo vā kalāṃ nārhati ṣoḍaśīm
„Man sagt: Das Glück, das bei bedrängten Menschen entsteht, wenn ihnen geholfen wird — weder Himmel noch Befreiung reichen an ein Sechzehntel davon heran.“
Unnamed ṛṣi (contextual speaker within the narrative; later Śiva speaks at v.24)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrim-audience (implied)
Scene: A benefactor comforts distressed people; their faces brighten. Above, symbolic scales show ‘svarga’ and ‘apavarga’ outweighed by the small but radiant ‘sukha of relief’ (only a sixteenth comparison).
FAQs
Relieving others’ suffering yields a joy/merit so great that even heaven or liberation cannot compare to it.
The verse belongs to Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya, linking pilgrimage greatness with compassionate action.
No explicit ritual; it elevates paropakāra (helping the afflicted) as a supreme dharmic act.