Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 49
य इंद्र कृमिरेव स्यात्कृमिरंद्रो हि जायते । तस्माद्दानात्परतरं नान्यदस्तीह मोचनम्
ya iṃdra kṛmireva syātkṛmiraṃdro hi jāyate | tasmāddānātparataraṃ nānyadastīha mocanam
Bahkan seorang Indra boleh menjadi seekor cacing, dan daripada cacing boleh lahir “raja bagi cacing-cacing”. Maka di dunia ini tiada pembebasan yang lebih tinggi daripada dāna (sedekah/pemberian).
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), speaking to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Kedāra-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: brāhmaṇas (vipra)
Scene: Striking metamorphosis motif: a crowned Indra figure fading into a small worm; beside it, a worm rising to a ‘lord among worms’—a visual of karmic inversion; rishi points to dāna as the remedy.
FAQs
Worldly rank is unstable; dāna is praised as a supreme means of inner release and purification.
The teaching occurs within Kedārakhaṇḍa, associated with Kedāra/Kedarnath’s Śaiva sacred geography.
Dāna (charity) is upheld as the foremost salvific practice here.