Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17
प्राणात्यये क्रतौ श्राद्धे भैषजे विप्रकाम्यया । अलौल्यमित्थं पललं भक्षयन्नैव दोषभाक्
prāṇātyaye kratau śrāddhe bhaiṣaje viprakāmyayā | alaulyamitthaṃ palalaṃ bhakṣayannaiva doṣabhāk
En péril de vie, lors d’un sacrifice, au śrāddha, comme remède, ou pour satisfaire un brāhmaṇa—s’il est sans avidité—celui qui mange ainsi le palala n’encourt aucune faute.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A sick pilgrim in Kāśī receives a physician’s measured prescription; nearby a śrāddha rite proceeds; the central motif is a small portion of palala taken without desire, contrasted with a larger rejected platter symbolizing greed.
FAQs
Dharma is not rigid: necessity, ritual duty, healing, and service—when free from greed—remove fault.
Kāśī is the implied setting; the verse frames how residents/pilgrims uphold dharma amid ritual and necessity.
Permissible contexts are listed (kratu, śrāddha, medicine, emergency, honoring a vipra) where eating palala is not blameworthy if done without greed.