Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 16
अविद्यां यः प्रयच्छेत बलीवर्दो भवेद्धि सः । अन्नं पर्युषितं विप्रे ददानः क्लीबतां व्रजेत्
avidyāṃ yaḥ prayaccheta balīvardo bhaveddhi saḥ | annaṃ paryuṣitaṃ vipre dadānaḥ klībatāṃ vrajet
Sesiapa yang menyebarkan avidyā (kejahilan), sesungguhnya dia menjadi lembu jantan. Wahai vipra! Sesiapa yang memberi brāhmaṇa makanan basi, dia akan menuju keadaan mati pucuk.
Sūta (deduced)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) tīrtha sphere (contextual)
Type: river
Listener: vipra addressed in-verse (vocative ‘vipre’) suggesting instruction to a brāhmaṇa interlocutor
Scene: A teacher deliberately handing a dark, cloud-like scroll labeled ‘avidyā’ to a student, with an ox symbol looming as karmic result; a donor offering stale food to a brāhmaṇa, with the donor’s vitality fading as a symbolic consequence.
FAQs
Teaching wrongly and giving disrespectfully are both violations of dharma; knowledge and charity must be pure in intent and quality.
No tīrtha is named; the focus is on dharma of teaching and dāna within the Revā Khaṇḍa.
It implies standards for dāna—do not offer stale food to a brāhmaṇa; give fitting, fresh, respectful offerings.