Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 49
ग्रामाः साधारणा दत्ता महास्थानानि वै तदा । ये वसंति च यत्रैव तानि तेषां भवंत्विति
grāmāḥ sādhāraṇā dattā mahāsthānāni vai tadā | ye vasaṃti ca yatraiva tāni teṣāṃ bhavaṃtviti
پھر گاؤں اور بڑے آستانے اس وقت مشترکہ حق کے طور پر عطا کیے گئے، اور یہ اعلان ہوا: “جہاں کہیں وہ رہیں، وہی مقامات انہی کے ہوں۔”
Brahmā (contextual narrator in this dialogue section)
Listener: suta (son)
Scene: Royal court proclamation: the king’s minister reads a grant while brāhmaṇas stand with water-pot and kuśa; a symbolic map/scroll shows villages and ‘mahāsthānas’ assigned wherever the recipients reside.
FAQs
Sacred endowments are meant for stability and continuity—supporting dharma wherever righteous people establish their lives.
Dharmāraṇya’s sanctity is expressed through ‘mahāsthānas’—endowed sacred establishments within its landscape.
No specific rite; it describes the legal-sacral form of endowment (shared grant tied to residence).