Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12
एकस्मिन्भोजिते पौत्र भिक्षुके फलमीदृशम् । दातव्यं भिक्षुके चान्नं कुर्य्याद्वै चात्मविक्रयम्
ekasminbhojite pautra bhikṣuke phalamīdṛśam | dātavyaṃ bhikṣuke cānnaṃ kuryyādvai cātmavikrayam
O grandson, such is the fruit of merit when even a single mendicant is fed. Therefore one should indeed give food to a mendicant, even if one must endure extreme hardship, as though selling oneself, to do so.
Skanda (deduced)
Tirtha: Dvārakā
Type: kshetra
Listener: pautra (grandson)
Scene: A poor pilgrim offers his last food to a bhikṣuka; in the background, he parts with a valued possession to procure food, symbolizing ‘ātma-vikraya’ as extreme renunciation; divine light crowns the act.
FAQs
Even one act of feeding a mendicant is immensely meritorious; generosity should be pursued wholeheartedly.
The chapter’s setting is Dvārakā, where such dāna is portrayed as exceptionally fruitful.
Give food to a bhikṣu; the verse urges doing so even at great personal cost.