Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 16
धर्मवर्मेति नृपतिर्योऽस्य देशस्य भूपतिः । स तु दानस्य तत्त्वार्थी तेपे वर्षगणान्बहून्
dharmavarmeti nṛpatiryo'sya deśasya bhūpatiḥ | sa tu dānasya tattvārthī tepe varṣagaṇānbahūn
ഈ ദേശത്തിന്റെ അധിപനായ ധർമ്മവർമ്മൻ എന്ന രാജാവ്, ദാനത്തിന്റെ തത്ത്വം അറിയുവാൻ ആഗ്രഹിച്ചു അനേകം വർഷങ്ങൾ തപസ്സു അനുഷ്ഠിച്ചു।
Sages (reporting to the narrator) within Sūta’s narration (deduced)
Listener: Nārada
Scene: A crowned king in simple ascetic garb performs long austerities—standing or seated in meditation—amid a forest hermitage; attendants and a distant palace suggest renunciation within rulership.
FAQs
True charity (dāna) is not merely an act but a dharmic principle worthy of deep inquiry and tapas.
The broader episode remains situated around a sacred confluence; this verse focuses on the local king connected to that sacred landscape.
Tapas (austerity) undertaken to realize the tattva (essential truth) of dāna.