Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 34
तथा खाद्यानि लेह्यानि चोष्याणि च विशेषतः । पिता तव कथं सोऽद्य कषायाणि कटूनि च । भक्षयिष्यति दत्तानि स्वहस्तेन मया विभो
tathā khādyāni lehyāni coṣyāṇi ca viśeṣataḥ | pitā tava kathaṃ so'dya kaṣāyāṇi kaṭūni ca | bhakṣayiṣyati dattāni svahastena mayā vibho
Et de même, tant de nourritures diverses — à mâcher, à lécher et à sucer, tout particulièrement. Ô Seigneur, comment ton père, aujourd’hui, mangera-t-il ces choses âpres et piquantes que je lui ai données de mes propres mains ?
Unspecified female speaker within the narrative (context suggests Sītā speaking to Rāma)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A domestic forest/pilgrimage camp scene: a devoted woman offers assorted foods (chewable, lickable, suckable) with worried expression, questioning how an elder (Rāma’s father) could eat pungent/astringent items offered by her own hand.
FAQs
Reverence toward elders and carefulness in service (seva) are dharmic virtues, heightened in a tīrtha setting where spiritual realities are near.
The verse occurs within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya, but the named tīrtha is not present in the provided lines.
No formal rite is prescribed; it references the giving of food by one’s own hand as an act of service.