Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 191
घृतेन दीपको यस्य तिलतैले न वा पुनः । ज्वलते मुनिशार्दूल हयमेधेन तस्य किम्
ghṛtena dīpako yasya tilataile na vā punaḥ | jvalate muniśārdūla hayamedhena tasya kim
ഹേ മുനിശാർദൂലാ! ആരുടെ ദീപം നെയ്യാലോ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ എള്ളെണ്ണയാലോ ജ്വലിക്കുന്നുവോ, അവന് അശ്വമേധയാഗം എന്തിന്?
Brahmā (deduced: Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa narrative style—Brahmā to Nārada)
Tirtha: Ayodhyā (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Muni-śārdūla (addressed sage)
Scene: Close focus on a single lamp flame in a brass dīpa; ghee or sesame oil glistens; a sage listens as the teaching is proclaimed; behind them, the temple doorway glows, suggesting that one light outweighs imperial sacrifices.
FAQs
Devotional lamp-offering can surpass or render unnecessary even the most grand and expensive Vedic sacrifices.
The teaching belongs to Ayodhyāmāhātmya’s sacred framework, where dīpadāna is praised as exceptionally fruitful.
Lighting/offering a lamp using ghee or sesame oil as a meritorious act.