Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 34
मया कदन्नं दत्तं च पर्युषितं ब्राह्मणोत्तमे । ब्राह्मणेभ्यः सदा दानं मिष्टान्नेन तु पोषणम् । तस्मात्पर्युषितोनाम संजातोऽहं धरातले
mayā kadannaṃ dattaṃ ca paryuṣitaṃ brāhmaṇottame | brāhmaṇebhyaḥ sadā dānaṃ miṣṭānnena tu poṣaṇam | tasmātparyuṣitonāma saṃjāto'haṃ dharātale
ഹേ ബ്രാഹ്മണോത്തമാ! ഞാൻ കഠിനമായ ഭക്ഷണവും, സൂക്ഷിച്ചുവെച്ച പഴകിയ അന്നവും ദാനം ചെയ്തു. ബ്രാഹ്മണരെ എപ്പോഴും മധുരവും ശുദ്ധവുമായ അന്നദാനത്തോടെ പോഷിക്കണം; അതിനാൽ ഭൂമിയിൽ ഞാൻ ‘പര്യുഷിതൻ’ എന്ന നാമത്തോടെ ജനിച്ചു।
Preta (Paryuṣita)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Gautama (implied addressee: ‘brāhmaṇottame’)
Scene: A confessional scene: a suffering being admits to a sage that he fed brāhmaṇas stale food; in contrast, an idealized offering of fresh sweet rice is shown as a moral counter-image.
FAQs
Charity is judged by intention and quality: disrespectful or impure giving diminishes merit and can become a cause of suffering.
Prabhāsakṣetra is the overarching sacred context; the verse teaches dharma of anna-dāna rather than naming a specific sub-tīrtha.
Anna-dāna: brāhmaṇas should be nourished through proper gifts—fresh, wholesome (miṣṭānna) food rather than stale offerings.