Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7
परिनिर्मथ्य वाग्जालं निर्णीतमिदमेव हि । नोपकारात्परो धर्मो नापकारादवं परम्
parinirmathya vāgjālaṃ nirṇītamidameva hi | nopakārātparo dharmo nāpakārādavaṃ param
After churning through the web of words, this alone is the settled conclusion: there is no dharma higher than doing good, and no downfall worse than doing harm.
Pārāśarya (contextual continuation)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A circle of scholars debates with palm-leaf manuscripts; the scene resolves as a sage writes the final aphorism: ‘No dharma higher than help; no fall worse than harm,’ with Kāśī’s temples behind.
FAQs
The essence of dharma is beneficence; the essence of adharma is harm—this is presented as the final, distilled teaching.
No site is named; the verse provides a universal dharma-sāra (essence of righteousness) within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse.
No ritual is prescribed; it is a direct ethical imperative: avoid harm and practice beneficence.