Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 3
तथा हि मुनिभिः प्रोक्तं द्रव्यं त्रिविधमुत्तमम् । शुक्लं मध्यं च शबलमधमं गृष्णमुच्यते
tathā hi munibhiḥ proktaṃ dravyaṃ trividhamuttamam | śuklaṃ madhyaṃ ca śabalamadhamaṃ gṛṣṇamucyate
जैसा कि मुनियों ने कहा है—धन (या दान) के तीन श्रेष्ठ भेद हैं: शुक्ल (शुद्ध), मध्यम और शबल (मिश्र); पर जो अधम है, उसे ‘कृष्ण’ (कलुषित) कहा जाता है।
Nārada
Scene: A teaching tableau: sages seated in a forest āśrama explaining four ‘colors’ of wealth—white, middling, mixed, and black—symbolized by four bowls or cloths of corresponding hues.
FAQs
Charity and sacred works should be supported by pure means; tainted wealth is spiritually inferior.
No single site is named in this verse; it provides dharmic criteria relevant to founding and supporting the local sacred “sthāna.”
Guidance for dāna: the moral quality of the offered dravya matters; avoid ‘kṛṣṇa’ (tainted) wealth.