Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 80
यैर्हृतानि च रत्नानि तथा शास्त्रांतराणि च । ते दरिद्राः प्रजायंते मूकाः खंजा विचक्षुषः । तेषां शास्त्र प्रदानेन इह सौख्यं प्रजायते
yairhṛtāni ca ratnāni tathā śāstrāṃtarāṇi ca | te daridrāḥ prajāyaṃte mūkāḥ khaṃjā vicakṣuṣaḥ | teṣāṃ śāstra pradānena iha saukhyaṃ prajāyate
రత్నాలను, అలాగే శాస్త్రగ్రంథాలను దొంగిలించినవారు దరిద్రులుగా, మూగలుగా, కుంటివారుగా, చూపు లోపంతో జన్మిస్తారు; శాస్త్రదానం చేయడంతో ఈ లోకంలోనే వారికి సుఖం కలుగుతుంది।
Bhīṣma (contextual, in the Bhīṣma–Yudhiṣṭhira instruction sequence)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A thief snatches a jewel casket and palm-leaf manuscripts; the next panel shows the same soul reborn poor and impaired; finally, a redeemed figure offers scriptures to a teacher in a temple courtyard, light returning to the scene.
FAQs
Misuse and theft of wealth and knowledge bring crippling consequences; restoration through dharmic giving—especially śāstra-dāna—is upheld as a corrective path.
The chapter context is the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya (Nāgara-khaṇḍa), though this verse focuses on ethical causality and remedial charity.
Śāstra-pradāna (donation of scriptures/learned texts) is prescribed as a means to generate well-being and counter prior wrongdoing.
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