Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 52
पादप्रक्षालनं कर्तुं विप्राणामुद्यतस्त्वहम् । तस्मिन्काले चाश्रृणवमहमातिथ्यवाक्यताम्
pādaprakṣālanaṃ kartuṃ viprāṇāmudyatastvaham | tasminkāle cāśrṛṇavamahamātithyavākyatām
私はバラモンたちの足を洗おうと身支度していたが、その時、客人をもてなす作法にかなった言葉が聞こえてきた。
Nārada (contextual: addressed by Kapila later; narrator voice shifts to first-person here)
Listener: Pārtha
Scene: A devotee rises with a water vessel and towel, preparing to wash the feet of arriving brāhmaṇas; the atmosphere is reverent, with soft festival sounds in the background.
FAQs
Service to the learned and hospitality to guests are central Purāṇic dharmas, equal to high ritual merit.
The ongoing tīrtha/saṅgama setting frames the act, implying that dharmic service there becomes especially meritorious.
Pāda-prakṣālana (washing the feet) of brāhmaṇas as part of guest-honor (ātithya).