Shloka 3
भूमिदान-प्रसङ्गः । काश्यपी-पृथिवी तथा उतथ्य-वरुण-संवादः
Land-gift episode; Pṛthivī Kāśyapī; Utathya–Varuṇa dispute
इदं चाप्यपरं गुह्ं सरहस्यं निबोधत
Skanda uvāca: idaṃ cāpy aparaṃ guhyaṃ sa-rahasyaṃ nibodhata. Pūrṇamāsyāṃ tithau candrodaya-samaye tāmra-bhājane madhu-miśritaṃ pākaṃ gṛhītvā yaś candrāya baliṃ nivedayati, tasya yo nitya-dharma-phala-prāptiḥ, tat śraddhayā śṛṇuta. Tasya dattaṃ taṃ baliṃ sādhya-rudrāditya-viśvedevāśvinīkumāra-marudgaṇā vasavaś ca gṛhṇanti; tena ca candramāḥ samudraś ca vardhate. Evaṃ mayā rahasya-sahitaḥ sukhadāyakaḥ dharmo varṇitaḥ.
Skanda said: “Learn also this further teaching—secret and accompanied by its inner rationale. On the full-moon day, at the moment of moonrise, if a person takes a sweet preparation mixed with honey in a copper vessel and offers it as a bali to Soma (the Moon), then listen with faith to the enduring fruit of that righteous act. The offering he gives is accepted by the Sādhyas, Rudras, Ādityas, the Viśvedevas, the Aśvin twins, the hosts of Maruts, and the Vasus; and by it the Moon and the ocean are said to increase. Thus have I described a happiness-giving dharma together with its secret meaning.”
स्कन्द उवाच
Educational Q&A
Skanda teaches an esoteric dharma: a full-moon, moonrise offering to Chandra—made with a honey-sweet preparation in a copper vessel—yields enduring religious merit, emphasizing śraddhā (faith) and the idea that properly directed ritual supports cosmic harmony.
Skanda describes a specific rite and its results: multiple divine classes are said to accept the offering, and the act symbolically ‘increases’ the Moon and the ocean, concluding with Skanda’s claim that he has revealed a happiness-giving dharma along with its hidden rationale.