Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
धरादाने महाराज वित्तशाठ्यं विवर्जयेत् । नैव पंचपलादर्वाक्प्रदातव्या कथञ्चन । लवणेक्षुसुरासर्पिर्दधिदुग्धजलोद्भवाः । समुद्राः सप्त चैतांस्तु कक्षायां तत्र दर्शयेत्
dharādāne mahārāja vittaśāṭhyaṃ vivarjayet | naiva paṃcapalādarvākpradātavyā kathañcana | lavaṇekṣusurāsarpirdadhidugdhajalodbhavāḥ | samudrāḥ sapta caitāṃstu kakṣāyāṃ tatra darśayet
Dans le don de la Terre, ô grand roi, qu’on renonce à toute tromperie concernant les richesses. Qu’on ne donne jamais, d’aucune manière, un modèle de la terre pesant moins de cinq palas. Là, qu’on figure les sept océans—nés du sel, du jus de canne, de la liqueur, du ghee, du caillé, du lait et de l’eau—rangés en ceintures circulaires.
Bhartṛyajña (continuing procedural instruction)
Tirtha: Gautameśvara (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (contextual)
Scene: A circular earth-model with seven concentric ocean-belts labeled by substance (salt, sugarcane-juice, liquor, ghee, curds, milk, water), while the teacher warns against deceit and shows a minimum weight standard.
FAQs
Charity must be free from deceit; symbolic rites gain power when the donor is honest and the offering is not trivialized.
The broader passage belongs to the Gautameśvara tīrtha setting within Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
Avoid wealth-deceit; do not donate an earth-model under five palas; depict the seven oceans as concentric belts on the model.