Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 83
दानं यज्ञानां वरूथं दक्षिणा लोके दातारंसर्वभूतान्युपजीवंति दानेनारातीरंपानुदंत दानेन द्विषंतो मित्रा भवंति दाने सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितं तस्माद्दानं परमं वदंतीति
dānaṃ yajñānāṃ varūthaṃ dakṣiṇā loke dātāraṃsarvabhūtānyupajīvaṃti dānenārātīraṃpānudaṃta dānena dviṣaṃto mitrā bhavaṃti dāne sarvaṃ pratiṣṭhitaṃ tasmāddānaṃ paramaṃ vadaṃtīti
“دان یَجْنوں کی ڈھال ہے؛ دنیا میں یہی مقدس دَکْشِنا ہے۔ سب جاندار دینے والے پر دان کے سبب جیتے ہیں۔ دان سے آفتیں دور ہوتی ہیں؛ دان سے دشمن بھی دوست بن جاتے ہیں۔ سب کچھ دان ہی میں قائم ہے—اسی لیے دان کو اعلیٰ ترین کہا گیا ہے۔”
Brahmā (Padmabhū) continuing (deduced from 81–82 context)
Scene: A donor offers food, cloth, and coins as dakṣiṇā to brāhmaṇas after a yajña; hostile figures soften into friendship; a symbolic pillar labeled ‘dāna’ supporting the world.
FAQs
Dāna is declared supreme: it protects ritual, sustains society, removes misfortune, and transforms hostility into friendship.
No particular tīrtha is named; this is a general dharma-statement elevating charity as a universal Mahātmya.
Dakṣiṇā and dāna are affirmed as essential supports of yajña and as a central religious duty.