Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 26
पार्थिवोऽयमिति ज्ञात्वा ह्यर्घ्याद्यैर्भोजनैः स च । सोऽपि दृष्ट्वा प्रभावं तं सर्वं धेनोश्च संभवम् । प्रार्थयामास तां मूल्यैर्गजवाजिसमु द्भवैः
pārthivo'yamiti jñātvā hyarghyādyairbhojanaiḥ sa ca | so'pi dṛṣṭvā prabhāvaṃ taṃ sarvaṃ dhenośca saṃbhavam | prārthayāmāsa tāṃ mūlyairgajavājisamu dbhavaiḥ
Sachant : « C’est un roi », il l’honora par des offrandes telles que l’arghya et par un repas. Le roi, voyant cette puissance prodigieuse et comprenant que tout provenait de la vache, se mit à la demander, offrant pour prix des éléphants et des chevaux.
Narrator (contextual Purāṇic voice within Tīrthamāhātmya)
Tirtha: Vasiṣṭhāśrama (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Vasiṣṭha offers arghya and food with composed grace; Viśvāmitra, astonished by the cow’s power, gestures toward Nandinī and presents lavish ‘price’—elephants and horses—his face mixing admiration and desire.
FAQs
Honor is due to status and dharma (arghya, hospitality), yet sacred gifts are not commodities—spiritual power cannot be rightly bought with worldly wealth.
The broader chapter belongs to a Tīrthamāhātmya setting in the Nāgara Khaṇḍa, but this verse does not specify the tīrtha’s name.
Arghya (respectful water-offering) and feeding (bhojana) are mentioned as forms of proper reception and honor.