Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 49
य इंद्र कृमिरेव स्यात्कृमिरंद्रो हि जायते । तस्माद्दानात्परतरं नान्यदस्तीह मोचनम्
ya iṃdra kṛmireva syātkṛmiraṃdro hi jāyate | tasmāddānātparataraṃ nānyadastīha mocanam
Même un Indra peut devenir un simple ver, et d’un ver peut naître un «seigneur parmi les vers». Ainsi, en ce monde, il n’est pas de délivrance plus haute que le dāna (le don charitable).
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), speaking to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Kedāra-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: brāhmaṇas (vipra)
Scene: Striking metamorphosis motif: a crowned Indra figure fading into a small worm; beside it, a worm rising to a ‘lord among worms’—a visual of karmic inversion; rishi points to dāna as the remedy.
FAQs
Worldly rank is unstable; dāna is praised as a supreme means of inner release and purification.
The teaching occurs within Kedārakhaṇḍa, associated with Kedāra/Kedarnath’s Śaiva sacred geography.
Dāna (charity) is upheld as the foremost salvific practice here.