Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 38
अप्रक्षालितपादस्तु यो भुंक्ते दक्षिणामुखः । यो वेष्टितशिरा भुंक्ते प्रेता भुंजन्ति नित्यशः
aprakṣālitapādastu yo bhuṃkte dakṣiṇāmukhaḥ | yo veṣṭitaśirā bhuṃkte pretā bhuṃjanti nityaśaḥ
കാലുകൾ കഴുകാതെ ഭക്ഷിക്കുന്നവൻ, തെക്കോട്ടു മുഖം തിരിച്ച് ഭക്ഷിക്കുന്നവൻ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ തല മൂടി ഭക്ഷിക്കുന്നവൻ—അവന്റെ അന്നം പ്രേതങ്ങൾ നിത്യവും ഭുജിക്കുന്നു।
Narrator (context: Pretas speaking in Gautama dialogue)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: General audience/householder; framed as instruction to a brāhmaṇa interlocutor in the chapter
Scene: Three cautionary vignettes: a man eating with dusty unwashed feet; another eating facing south; another eating with head wrapped—while pretas gather to consume the subtle essence of the food.
FAQs
Food and offerings should be taken with purity and proper conduct; careless habits invite inauspicious subtle influences (preta-association).
Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya), where dharma regarding offerings and purity is taught.
Wash the feet before eating, avoid eating facing south, and avoid eating with the head covered—especially relevant around śrāddha and sacred meals.
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