Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12
भगवन्वै विरूपाक्ष क्रतुर्नैव समाप्यते । दक्षिणाहै न्यतो देव न याति परिपूर्णताम्
bhagavanvai virūpākṣa kraturnaiva samāpyate | dakṣiṇāhai nyato deva na yāti paripūrṇatām
ข้าแต่พระผู้เป็นเจ้า โอ้พระวิรูปाक्षะ พิธีบูชายัญนี้ยังไม่อาจสำเร็จได้ เพราะขาดทักษิณา โอ้เทวะ จึงไม่ถึงความบริบูรณ์
Brahmā (Padmayoni), addressing Śiva (Virūpākṣa)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Virūpākṣa (Śiva)
Scene: Brahmā addresses Virūpākṣa (Śiva) with folded hands, explaining that the sacrifice cannot conclude due to lack of dakṣiṇā; the yajña pavilion appears paused, priests waiting, offerings arranged but the concluding rites withheld.
FAQs
Ritual worship is perfected not only by mantra and procedure but also by dharmic giving—dakṣiṇā completes a yajña by honoring those who sustain sacred knowledge.
Prabhāsakṣetra (Prabhāsa), whose māhātmya frames the episode of Brahmā’s rite and the sacred waters that arise to fulfill it.
The necessity of dakṣiṇā (gifts/fees) to priests and sages as an essential component for the completion and fruit of a yajña.