Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 67
कपालस्थं यथा तोयं श्वदृतौ च यथा पयः । दूषितं स्थानदोषेण वृत्तहीने तथा श्रुतम्
kapālasthaṃ yathā toyaṃ śvadṛtau ca yathā payaḥ | dūṣitaṃ sthānadoṣeṇa vṛttahīne tathā śrutam
ดุจน้ำที่เก็บไว้ในกะโหลก และน้ำนมที่ใส่ไว้ในหนังสุนัข ย่อมแปดเปื้อนเพราะโทษแห่งภาชนะ—ฉันใดเล่า พระเวทและความรู้ก็มัวหมองเมื่อสถิตในผู้ไร้ความประพฤติชอบ ฉันนั้น
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Two symbolic still-lifes: a skull-cup holding water and a dog-skin bag holding milk, both shown as ritually impure; beside them, a scholar with manuscripts but disordered behavior, illustrating ‘śruta’ spoiled by bad conduct.
FAQs
Knowledge without character is spiritually tainted; right conduct is the ‘vessel’ that preserves purity of learning.
Prabhāsakṣetra, where the māhātmya stresses inner purity and ethical fitness alongside outward religious acts.
An implicit prescription: choose recipients and teachers by conduct (vṛtta), not merely by learning (śruta).