Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 73
वावदूकाश्च ध्वजिनो मुष्णंति कृपणाञ्जनान् । स्वयं हस्तसहस्रेण धर्मस्यैवं भवद्विधाः
vāvadūkāśca dhvajino muṣṇaṃti kṛpaṇāñjanān | svayaṃ hastasahasreṇa dharmasyaivaṃ bhavadvidhāḥ
वाचाल और दिखावटी (ध्वजधारी) लोग दीन-निर्बलों को लूटते हैं; इसी प्रकार तुम जैसे लोग हजार हाथों से स्वयं धर्म को ही लूट लेते हो।
Saṃvarta (contextual; Kaumārikākhaṇḍa narrative dialogue)
Scene: A moral tableau: boastful men with banners/insignia and loud mouths seize alms and goods from poor supplicants; Dharma personified is shown being ‘robbed’—his scales tipped, his cloth torn—while a sage condemns them.
FAQs
Pride, hypocrisy, and exploitation are theft against society and against Dharma itself.
No site is praised; the verse is a dharma-critique of social wrongdoing.
None explicitly; the implied duty is non-stealing, compassion, and integrity.