Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 69
सर्वपापक्षयो येन वृषोत्सर्गेण तेन किम् । गोदानं किं करोत्येवं जलदानं तथैव च
sarvapāpakṣayo yena vṛṣotsargeṇa tena kim | godānaṃ kiṃ karotyevaṃ jaladānaṃ tathaiva ca
Selbst das vṛṣotsarga —das Freilassen des Stieres— durch das alle Sünden vergehen sollen: wozu ist es gut? Was vermag dann die Gabe einer Kuh — und ebenso die Gabe von Wasser?
Devāṅganā (addressing Indra/Sureśvara) inferred from continuous address
Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra (implied as comparator)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A consecrated bull is released with ritual marks; a cow is gifted to a brahmin; water is offered to travelers/ascetics—while the narrator’s questioning tone suggests an even higher salvific act tied to the local kṣetra.
FAQs
Even celebrated expiatory gifts are portrayed as lesser when set beside the supreme Śiva-centered observance praised in the chapter.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it supports the Vastrāpathakṣetra māhātmya’s broader claim about superior merit.
Vṛṣotsarga (ritual release/donation of a bull), go-dāna (cow-gift), and jala-dāna (water charity).