Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 73
महादानं हि गृह्णानो ब्राह्मणः स्वं शुभं हि यत् । ददाति दातुर्दाता च अशुभं यच्छति स्वकम्
mahādānaṃ hi gṛhṇāno brāhmaṇaḥ svaṃ śubhaṃ hi yat | dadāti dāturdātā ca aśubhaṃ yacchati svakam
کیونکہ جب کوئی برہمن بڑا دان قبول کرتا ہے تو وہ اپنا ہی پُنّیہ اور شُبھتا دے بیٹھتا ہے؛ اور داتا اپنی اَشُبھتا کو لینے والے کے سپرد کر دیتا ہے۔
Hārīta
Listener: dhīmat (wise interlocutor)
Scene: Symbolic depiction of merit and impurity as subtle auras: a giver offering lavish gifts; the recipient’s bright aura thinning while a darker haze passes from giver to receiver—rendered allegorically.
FAQs
Giving and receiving are karmically consequential; large gifts can shift merit and demerit between parties.
No tīrtha is specified; the emphasis is on dana-dharma.
It frames a cautionary principle for accepting mahā-dāna, implying discernment in pratigraha.