Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
ऋषय ऊचुः । राज प्रतिग्रहो घोरो मध्वास्वादो विषोपमः । स दूराद्ब्राह्मणैस्त्याज्यो विशेषात्कृतिभिर्नृप
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | rāja pratigraho ghoro madhvāsvādo viṣopamaḥ | sa dūrādbrāhmaṇaistyājyo viśeṣātkṛtibhirnṛpa
ऋषय ऊचुः—राजन्, प्रतिग्रहो घोरः; मध्वास्वादः सन् विषोपमः। अतः स दूराद् ब्राह्मणैस्त्याज्यः, विशेषात् कृतिभिर्नृप।
Ṛṣis (the sages)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Sages respond to the king with a grave warning: gifts are honey-sweet but poison-like; their faces are calm yet firm, hands raised in teaching mudrā.
FAQs
Material gain can appear sweet but spiritually harm like poison; discernment is essential in matters of wealth and patronage.
No single tīrtha is praised in this verse; it functions as dharma-instruction within the Tīrthamāhātmya leading toward a named kṣetra later.
A behavioral prescription: Brāhmaṇas should avoid certain gifts—especially royal gifts—when they endanger spiritual integrity.