Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 37
पितृदेवमनुष्येभ्यो दत्त्वाश्नात्यमृतं गृही । स्वार्थं पचन्नघं भुंक्ते केवलं स्वोदरंभरिः
pitṛdevamanuṣyebhyo dattvāśnātyamṛtaṃ gṛhī | svārthaṃ pacannaghaṃ bhuṃkte kevalaṃ svodaraṃbhariḥ
A householder who first offers food to the ancestors, the gods, and fellow humans, and then eats, partakes of amṛta. But one who cooks only for his own purpose eats sin alone—being merely a filler of his own belly.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A Kāśī householder serves portions of cooked food first to a pitṛ-śrāddha plate, then to a small deva-offering near a lamp, and then to a guest/poor person at the doorway; only afterward he eats calmly.
FAQs
Eating becomes purifying when preceded by offerings and sharing; selfish consumption turns food into sin.
The teaching is situated within Kāśī-khaṇḍa (Varanasi/Kashi), where daily dharma is praised as part of Kāśī’s sacred life.
Offer food first to Pitṛs, Devas, and people (charity/hospitality) before the householder eats.