Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9
वेदविक्रयिणे चैव यस्य चोपपतिर्गृहे । स्त्रीनिर्जिते च यद्दत्तं वृथादानानि षोडश
vedavikrayiṇe caiva yasya copapatirgṛhe | strīnirjite ca yaddattaṃ vṛthādānāni ṣoḍaśa
वेद विकणाऱ्यास, ज्याच्या घरी उपपति (परपुरुष) राहतो त्यास, आणि जो कामवश होऊन स्त्रीच्या अधीन झाला आहे त्यास दिलेले दान—अशा प्रकारची इतरही मिळून ही ‘वृथादाने’ सोळा सांगितली आहेत.
Deductive (Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya narrative voice; likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa reporting a teaching)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A symbolic triad: (1) a man weighing palm-leaf Veda manuscripts against coins (vedavikraya), (2) a household doorway with a shadowy adulterer figure tolerated inside, (3) a man pulled by a red ribbon of desire—while a pilgrim at Prabhāsa turns away, holding a pure offering.
FAQs
Sacred giving must not support the commercialization of dharma or morally corrupt households; otherwise merit is lost.
The instruction belongs to the Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya, where pilgrimage is paired with ethical living.
A classification: certain donations are labeled vṛthā (ineffective), culminating in a set of sixteen such cases.