Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40
गजाश्वरथदानैः किं किं मंदिरप्रतिष्ठया । तेषां पूजादिना सम्यगिष्टा पूर्तादिभिश्च किम्
gajāśvarathadānaiḥ kiṃ kiṃ maṃdirapratiṣṭhayā | teṣāṃ pūjādinā samyagiṣṭā pūrtādibhiśca kim
हत्ती-घोडे-रथांचे दान करून काय, किंवा मंदिरप्रतिष्ठा करून तरी काय? त्यांची विधिपूर्वक पूजा, यज्ञ आणि कूप-तडागादी पूर्तकर्मांनीही काय साध्य?
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced from Purāṇic narration style within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Dvārakā
Type: kshetra
Scene: A procession of lavish donors offering elephants, horses, and chariots; priests performing temple consecration and elaborate worship—yet the focal point is a humble devotee receiving Kṛṣṇa’s grace at Dvārakā, indicating the ‘higher fruit’ beyond spectacle.
FAQs
The verse relativizes even great charities and ritual works, implying that Dvārakā-related devotion yields a superior, more direct spiritual fruit.
Dvārakā, the sacred city associated with Lord Kṛṣṇa, within the Dvārakā Māhātmya of the Skanda Purāṇa.
Major dānas (gifts), mandira-pratiṣṭhā (temple consecration), pūjā (worship), and iṣṭa-pūrta (sacrifices and public merit works) are referenced as comparators.