Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 54
तोयं शय्यां तथा छत्रं कन्यां दासीं सुभाषिणीम् । पात्रे देयं यतो राजन् यदीच्छेच्छ्रेय आत्मनः
toyaṃ śayyāṃ tathā chatraṃ kanyāṃ dāsīṃ subhāṣiṇīm | pātre deyaṃ yato rājan yadīcchecchreya ātmanaḥ
پانی، بستر، اور چھتری؛ ایک کنیا؛ اور خوش گفتار داسی—اے راجن، اگر کوئی اپنے لیے شریَہ، یعنی اعلیٰ بھلائی چاہے تو یہ سب کسی لائق پاتر کو دینا چاہیے۔
Unspecified narrator addressing the king
Tirtha: Revā-kṣetra (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: rājan / nṛpa (king)
Scene: A royal donor scene: attendants present a water-pot, a bed-roll, and a ceremonial umbrella to a seated worthy recipient; a marriage-gift (kanyā-dāna) is symbolized respectfully in a secondary vignette; an eloquent maidservant stands with folded hands, representing service-gift in old idiom.
FAQs
Merit depends not only on giving but on giving appropriately—directed to a worthy recipient with the intention of śreyas (true good).
The dāna teaching is part of the Maṇināgeśvara Māhātmya in the Revā Khaṇḍa.
Give specified gifts (water, bed, umbrella, etc.) to a qualified pātra when seeking spiritual welfare.