Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
धरादाने महाराज वित्तशाठ्यं विवर्जयेत् । नैव पंचपलादर्वाक्प्रदातव्या कथञ्चन । लवणेक्षुसुरासर्पिर्दधिदुग्धजलोद्भवाः । समुद्राः सप्त चैतांस्तु कक्षायां तत्र दर्शयेत्
dharādāne mahārāja vittaśāṭhyaṃ vivarjayet | naiva paṃcapalādarvākpradātavyā kathañcana | lavaṇekṣusurāsarpirdadhidugdhajalodbhavāḥ | samudrāḥ sapta caitāṃstu kakṣāyāṃ tatra darśayet
En la ofrenda de la Tierra, oh gran rey, debe abandonarse todo engaño respecto a la riqueza. De ningún modo ha de entregarse un modelo de la tierra que pese menos de cinco palas. Allí han de representarse los siete océanos—nacidos de la sal, del jugo de caña, del licor, del ghee, de la cuajada, de la leche y del agua—dispuestos como cinturones que circundan.
Bhartṛyajña (continuing procedural instruction)
Tirtha: Gautameśvara (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (contextual)
Scene: A circular earth-model with seven concentric ocean-belts labeled by substance (salt, sugarcane-juice, liquor, ghee, curds, milk, water), while the teacher warns against deceit and shows a minimum weight standard.
FAQs
Charity must be free from deceit; symbolic rites gain power when the donor is honest and the offering is not trivialized.
The broader passage belongs to the Gautameśvara tīrtha setting within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
Avoid wealth-deceit; do not donate an earth-model under five palas; depict the seven oceans as concentric belts on the model.