Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 15
तडागानां सहस्रेण ह्यश्वमेधशतेन च । गवां कोटि प्रदानेन भूमिहर्ता न शुद्ध्यति
taḍāgānāṃ sahasreṇa hyaśvamedhaśatena ca | gavāṃ koṭi pradānena bhūmihartā na śuddhyati
ആയിരം കുളങ്ങൾ പണിതാലും, നൂറ് അശ്വമേധ യാഗങ്ങൾ ചെയ്താലും, കോടി പശുക്കൾ ദാനം ചെയ്താലും—ഭൂമി കവർന്നവൻ ശുദ്ധിയാകുന്നില്ല।
Sūta (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience, including potential patrons
Scene: An allegorical scene: a man clutching a land-deed while behind him rise a thousand gleaming tanks, a hundred Aśvamedha altars, and herds of cows being donated—yet a dark stain remains on him, untouched by the grandeur; Somnātha stands as silent witness.
FAQs
Land theft is treated as an exceptionally grave adharma that overwhelms even vast ritual merit and charity.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra provides the Māhātmya setting where such dharma-boundaries are emphasized for pilgrims and householders.
It contrasts expiatory hopes through large-scale dāna and yajña with the declared non-purifiability of land theft.