Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 14
स विसृष्टो गुरुं प्राह दक्षिणा प्रार्थ्यतामिति । विश्वामित्रस्तु तं प्राह किं दास्यसि दक्षिणाम् । दक्षिणा तव शुश्रूषा गृहं व्रज यतव्रत
sa visṛṣṭo guruṃ prāha dakṣiṇā prārthyatāmiti | viśvāmitrastu taṃ prāha kiṃ dāsyasi dakṣiṇām | dakṣiṇā tava śuśrūṣā gṛhaṃ vraja yatavrata
Dismissed, he said to his guru, “Please ask for the dakṣiṇā, the teacher’s fee.” But Viśvāmitra replied, “What will you give as dakṣiṇā? Your dakṣiṇā is your devoted service. Go home, O disciplined one.”
Viśvāmitra (within the narrative; framed by the chapter’s narrator)
Tirtha: Ayodhyā-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A calm āśrama setting: the disciplined disciple bows and offers to pay dakṣiṇā; Viśvāmitra, serene, blesses him and declares that devoted service itself is the fee, sending him home.
FAQs
True dakṣiṇā is not merely wealth—humble service and sincere discipline are honored as the highest offering to the guru.
Ayodhyā is the chapter’s sacred frame; this verse teaches guru-dharma within that mahatmya context.
Dakṣiṇā is discussed, and it is defined here as śuśrūṣā (attentive service) rather than material payment.
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