Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 58
प्रयोजनमपेक्ष्यैव प्रसंगाद्यत्प्रदीयते । अनर्हेषु सरागेण कामदानं तदुच्यते
prayojanamapekṣyaiva prasaṃgādyatpradīyate | anarheṣu sarāgeṇa kāmadānaṃ taducyate
Ce qui est donné en ne visant qu’un but personnel, par attachement et par impulsion passagère, même à des indignes, est appelé ‘kāma-dāna’ (don du désir).
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced)
Scene: A donor, emotionally stirred, hands over gifts to a flattering but unworthy recipient; the recipient’s posture suggests opportunism; a calm elder indicates discernment (viveka) as the missing element.
FAQs
Charity motivated by desire and attachment—especially when given to the undeserving—diminishes dharmic purity.
No; the passage is a moral taxonomy of dāna.
Avoid desire-driven giving to unworthy recipients; give without expectation and with discernment.