Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 14
न तिला धान्यमित्याहुर्देवधान्यमिति स्मृतम् । तस्मात्सर्वेषु दानेषु तिल दानं महोत्तमम्
na tilā dhānyamityāhurdevadhānyamiti smṛtam | tasmātsarveṣu dāneṣu tila dānaṃ mahottamam
کہا جاتا ہے کہ تل محض اناج نہیں؛ اسے ‘دیوتاؤں کا اناج’ یاد کیا گیا ہے۔ اس لیے تمام دانوں میں تل کا دان سب سے اعلیٰ ہے۔
Unspecified (Tīrthamāhātmya narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa; likely a Purāṇic narrator addressing a listener)
Scene: A pilgrim at a tīrtha offers a small heap of sesame into a priest’s hands beside a riverbank altar; a subtle divine aura suggests ‘devadhānya’.
FAQs
Charity becomes spiritually weighty when it aligns with sacred tradition; sesame is singled out as a divinely valued gift.
A particular tīrtha is not named; the verse gives a general dharma-teaching within a tīrtha-mahātmya setting.
Perform tila-dāna (donation of sesame), presented as the highest among gifts.