Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 19
यदर्थेन महाराज पृष्टोस्माभिर्यतो भवान् । तस्मान्नो दक्षिणां देहि संदेहघ्नां तपोत्तम
yadarthena mahārāja pṛṣṭosmābhiryato bhavān | tasmānno dakṣiṇāṃ dehi saṃdehaghnāṃ tapottama
“Wahai Maharaja, kerana tujuan inilah kami menyoal tuanku. Maka kurniakanlah kepada kami suatu dakṣiṇā yang memusnahkan keraguan, wahai yang terbaik dalam tapa.”
Brāhmaṇas
Scene: Brāhmaṇas respectfully requesting from the king not wealth but a doubt-destroying dakṣiṇā—symbolized as a scroll of dharma or a lamp of knowledge.
FAQs
The highest ‘dakṣiṇā’ is not wealth but knowledge that removes doubt and establishes dharma.
The verse belongs to a Tīrthamāhātmya context, but this line alone does not identify the tīrtha by name.
It redefines dakṣiṇā as a request for doubt-destroying guidance (upadeśa), rather than material payment.