Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 54
हीनवर्णश्च यः स्याद्धि शिवभक्तोऽपि नैव सः । प्रतिगृह्यौ गुणौ तस्माद्विलोक्यौ द्वौ प्रतिग्रहे
hīnavarṇaśca yaḥ syāddhi śivabhakto'pi naiva saḥ | pratigṛhyau guṇau tasmādvilokyau dvau pratigrahe
En vérité, celui dont la conduite ou la condition est vile n’est pas un véritable dévot de Śiva, même s’il s’en réclame. Aussi, lorsqu’on accepte un don ou l’hospitalité, faut-il examiner deux qualités.
Unspecified (context suggests a Purāṇic narrator in Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa addressing sages)
Scene: A devotee at a pilgrimage rest-house is offered gifts/food; an elder advises him to examine the giver and the offering. Two symbolic scales appear: one weighing the donor’s character, the other the purity of the gift.
FAQs
Devotion is validated by conduct; discernment is advised before accepting offerings or hospitality.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the focus is on dharmic discernment (pratigraha-niyama).
When accepting (pratigraha), one should examine two qualifying factors (the verse introduces this rule, details likely follow in subsequent lines).