Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40
गायत्रीसारमात्रोऽपि वरं विप्रः सुयन्त्रितः । नायंत्रितश्चतुर्वेदी सर्वाशी सर्वविक्रयी
gāyatrīsāramātro'pi varaṃ vipraḥ suyantritaḥ | nāyaṃtritaścaturvedī sarvāśī sarvavikrayī
Mieux vaut un brāhmane qui ne connaît que l’essence de la Gāyatrī mais demeure parfaitement maîtrisé, qu’un connaisseur des quatre Veda sans retenue, qui mange de tout et vend tout.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Two brāhmaṇas contrasted before Somnātha: one simple, restrained, holding a small Gāyatrī palm-leaf; the other richly adorned with four Veda bundles, surrounded by market goods, eating indiscriminately. A luminous aura surrounds the restrained one.
FAQs
Restraint and character outweigh mere scriptural accumulation; dharma values inner discipline over display of learning.
Prabhāsakṣetra, where the Māhātmya frames right conduct as the true ornament of sacred learning.
It prescribes self-restraint and condemns indiscriminate eating and mercenary selling, even in the learned.