Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17
प्राणात्यये क्रतौ श्राद्धे भैषजे विप्रकाम्यया । अलौल्यमित्थं पललं भक्षयन्नैव दोषभाक्
prāṇātyaye kratau śrāddhe bhaiṣaje viprakāmyayā | alaulyamitthaṃ palalaṃ bhakṣayannaiva doṣabhāk
Em risco de vida, num sacrifício, no śrāddha, como remédio, ou para agradar a um brāhmaṇa—se for sem cobiça—quem assim come palala não incorre em culpa.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A sick pilgrim in Kāśī receives a physician’s measured prescription; nearby a śrāddha rite proceeds; the central motif is a small portion of palala taken without desire, contrasted with a larger rejected platter symbolizing greed.
FAQs
Dharma is not rigid: necessity, ritual duty, healing, and service—when free from greed—remove fault.
Kāśī is the implied setting; the verse frames how residents/pilgrims uphold dharma amid ritual and necessity.
Permissible contexts are listed (kratu, śrāddha, medicine, emergency, honoring a vipra) where eating palala is not blameworthy if done without greed.