Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 67
कपालस्थं यथा तोयं श्वदृतौ च यथा पयः । दूषितं स्थानदोषेण वृत्तहीने तथा श्रुतम्
kapālasthaṃ yathā toyaṃ śvadṛtau ca yathā payaḥ | dūṣitaṃ sthānadoṣeṇa vṛttahīne tathā śrutam
Just as water kept in a skull, and milk placed in a dog’s skin, become tainted due to the fault of the vessel—so too, learning becomes defiled when it resides in one who lacks right conduct.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Two symbolic still-lifes: a skull-cup holding water and a dog-skin bag holding milk, both shown as ritually impure; beside them, a scholar with manuscripts but disordered behavior, illustrating ‘śruta’ spoiled by bad conduct.
FAQs
Knowledge without character is spiritually tainted; right conduct is the ‘vessel’ that preserves purity of learning.
Prabhāsakṣetra, where the māhātmya stresses inner purity and ethical fitness alongside outward religious acts.
An implicit prescription: choose recipients and teachers by conduct (vṛtta), not merely by learning (śruta).
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