Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 66
असत्यभाषिणो विप्रा लोभिनो नृपसत्तम । सर्व्वविद्याप्रवीणाश्च ब्राह्मणा ब्रह्मसत्तम
asatyabhāṣiṇo viprā lobhino nṛpasattama | sarvvavidyāpravīṇāśca brāhmaṇā brahmasattama
Wahai raja yang utama, para Brahmana itu berkata tidak benar dan bersifat tamak; namun, wahai yang terbaik antara para pengenal Brahman, mereka juga mahir dalam setiap cabang ilmu.
Unspecified (addressing a king; narrative voice within Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Dharmāraṇya (context)
Type: kshetra
Listener: nṛpa-sattama; also addressed as brahma-sattama (honorific in translation context)
Scene: A king listens as a sage describes a group of scholars: manuscripts and teaching scenes show their learning, while subtle visual cues (counting coins, furtive speech) indicate greed and untruth—moral ambiguity rendered with restraint.
FAQs
Learning (vidyā) without virtue (satya, alobha) is spiritually deficient; dharma requires integrity.
No single tirtha is praised; the verse is a moral observation within the Dharmāraṇya narrative.
None explicitly; the implied prescription is adherence to satya (truth) and freedom from lobha (greed).