Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 87
केवलं पाठ मात्रेण यश्च संतुष्यते नरः । तथा पंडितमानी च कोन्यस्तस्मात्पशुर्मतः
kevalaṃ pāṭha mātreṇa yaśca saṃtuṣyate naraḥ | tathā paṃḍitamānī ca konyastasmātpaśurmataḥ
Ang taong nasisiyahan sa pagbigkas lamang, at nag-aakalang siya’y pantas—sino pa ang higit na maituturing na parang hayop kaysa sa kanya?
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) to the sages (deduced from context)
Scene: A proud reciter on a dais with a garland, while a humble practitioner serves at a shrine; the proud man’s shadow appears as a beast, illustrating ‘paśu’; the shrine lamp symbolizes true knowledge.
FAQs
Textual repetition without embodied dharma breeds arrogance and spiritual stagnation; true learning must transform character.
No tīrtha is referenced; the focus is ethical-spiritual diagnosis.
None; it warns against reducing religion to mechanical reading.