Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 81
शुनोमुख उवाच । वेदान्स पठतु न्यायाद्गृहस्थः स्यात्प्रियातिथिः । सत्यं वदतु चाजस्रं बिसस्तैन्यं करोति यः
śunomukha uvāca | vedānsa paṭhatu nyāyādgṛhasthaḥ syātpriyātithiḥ | satyaṃ vadatu cājasraṃ bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ
Śunomukha berkata: “Hendaklah seorang grihastha mempelajari Veda dengan cara yang benar; jadilah dia yang dikasihi para tetamu. Hendaklah dia berkata benar tanpa henti. Namun sesiapa yang mencuri bisa (tangkai teratai) menanggung dosa dan jatuh dari dharma.”
Śunomukha
Type: kund
Listener: assembly within the narrative (sages/companions implied)
Scene: Śunomukha instructs: a householder recites Veda with discipline, welcomes guests with water and seat, speaks truth; beside the lotus pond, a cautionary image of someone stealing lotus-stalks as the fall from dharma.
FAQs
It upholds gṛhastha-dharma: study the Vedas rightly, honor guests, and practice unwavering truthfulness, while warning against even seemingly small acts of theft.
This verse is framed within the Nāgara Khaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya section, but the specific tīrtha name is not stated in the given snippet.
No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed here; the instruction is ethical and dharmic—Vedic study by proper rule, hospitality, truthfulness, and avoidance of theft.