Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 93
तांबूलवर्जितं यस्य मुखं स्यात्पृथिवीपते । कृपणस्य दरिद्रस्य तद्बिलं न हि तन्मुखम्
tāṃbūlavarjitaṃ yasya mukhaṃ syātpṛthivīpate | kṛpaṇasya daridrasya tadbilaṃ na hi tanmukham
اے زمین کے مالک! جس کا منہ تامبول سے خالی ہو وہ گویا ایک سوراخ ہے؛ بخیل اور مفلس کے لیے وہ حقیقتاً ‘منہ’ نہیں۔
Nārada (addressing the king; exact king-name not in snippet)
Type: kshetra
Listener: A king (पृथिवीपते addressed)
Scene: A courtly scene where the sage uses a biting metaphor: a miser’s tāmbūla-less mouth is shown as a dark hollow, contrasted with a generous donor offering betel to guests.
FAQs
It condemns miserliness and celebrates auspicious conduct; refusing customary, dharmic offerings (like tāmbūla) is portrayed as spiritually and socially inauspicious.
The verse sits within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra-māhātmya section of Nāgara-khaṇḍa (Tīrthamāhātmya), where practices around tāmbūla are praised.
An implied prescription favoring the dharmic use of tāmbūla (especially in gifting/auspicious etiquette), contrasting it with the state of being ‘tāmbūla-less’.