Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 15
तडागानां सहस्रेण ह्यश्वमेधशतेन च । गवां कोटि प्रदानेन भूमिहर्ता न शुद्ध्यति
taḍāgānāṃ sahasreṇa hyaśvamedhaśatena ca | gavāṃ koṭi pradānena bhūmihartā na śuddhyati
Quand bien même il ferait creuser mille étangs, accomplirait cent sacrifices Aśvamedha et donnerait dix millions de vaches, le voleur de terre ne devient pas pur.
Sūta (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience, including potential patrons
Scene: An allegorical scene: a man clutching a land-deed while behind him rise a thousand gleaming tanks, a hundred Aśvamedha altars, and herds of cows being donated—yet a dark stain remains on him, untouched by the grandeur; Somnātha stands as silent witness.
FAQs
Land theft is treated as an exceptionally grave adharma that overwhelms even vast ritual merit and charity.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra provides the Māhātmya setting where such dharma-boundaries are emphasized for pilgrims and householders.
It contrasts expiatory hopes through large-scale dāna and yajña with the declared non-purifiability of land theft.