Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40
गायत्रीसारमात्रोऽपि वरं विप्रः सुयन्त्रितः । नायंत्रितश्चतुर्वेदी सर्वाशी सर्वविक्रयी
gāyatrīsāramātro'pi varaṃ vipraḥ suyantritaḥ | nāyaṃtritaścaturvedī sarvāśī sarvavikrayī
ഗായത്രിയുടെ സാരമാത്രം അറിഞ്ഞാലും നന്നായി നിയന്ത്രിതനായ ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ ശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ; നിയന്ത്രണമില്ലാത്ത ചതുര്വേദി, എല്ലാം തിന്നുകയും എല്ലാം വിൽക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ ശ്രേഷ്ഠനല്ല.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) speaking to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Two brāhmaṇas contrasted before Somnātha: one simple, restrained, holding a small Gāyatrī palm-leaf; the other richly adorned with four Veda bundles, surrounded by market goods, eating indiscriminately. A luminous aura surrounds the restrained one.
FAQs
Restraint and character outweigh mere scriptural accumulation; dharma values inner discipline over display of learning.
Prabhāsakṣetra, where the Māhātmya frames right conduct as the true ornament of sacred learning.
It prescribes self-restraint and condemns indiscriminate eating and mercenary selling, even in the learned.