Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 54
हीनवर्णश्च यः स्याद्धि शिवभक्तोऽपि नैव सः । प्रतिगृह्यौ गुणौ तस्माद्विलोक्यौ द्वौ प्रतिग्रहे
hīnavarṇaśca yaḥ syāddhi śivabhakto'pi naiva saḥ | pratigṛhyau guṇau tasmādvilokyau dvau pratigrahe
ഹീനാചാരമോ താഴ്ന്ന നിലയോ ഉള്ളവൻ ശിവഭക്തനെന്ന് പറയുകയുണ്ടായാലും യഥാർത്ഥ ശിവഭക്തനല്ല. അതിനാൽ പ്രതിഗ്രഹത്തിൽ (ദാനം/ആതിഥ്യം സ്വീകരിക്കൽ) രണ്ടു ഗുണങ്ങൾ പരിശോധിക്കണം.
Unspecified (context suggests a Purāṇic narrator in Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa addressing sages)
Scene: A devotee at a pilgrimage rest-house is offered gifts/food; an elder advises him to examine the giver and the offering. Two symbolic scales appear: one weighing the donor’s character, the other the purity of the gift.
FAQs
Devotion is validated by conduct; discernment is advised before accepting offerings or hospitality.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the focus is on dharmic discernment (pratigraha-niyama).
When accepting (pratigraha), one should examine two qualifying factors (the verse introduces this rule, details likely follow in subsequent lines).